As the days grow longer and temperatures rise, your lawn feels the heat just as much as you do. Summer can be tough on grass – but with the right care, your lawn can stay green, lush, and healthy all season long.
Let’s break down the top tips for summer lawn success.
Lawn Care: My Not-So-Secret Cardio Routine
Summer is a peak growth period for many grasses. Consistent mowing will encourage a thicker, denser turf, enhance resilience, and prevent weed and thatch buildup. A healthy lawn is well-maintained! Our mowing tips are as following:
1. Ensure you’re mowing on a dry day, as a wet day can damage the grass, clog the mower, and leave a poor finish.
2. Removing more than a third of the leaf at a time will cause stress to the grass roots. Minimising stress to your lawn is priority, especially during the hottest part of the year. Regular mowing is key – we suggest once a week. Figure out what works best for your grass!
3. Lastly, try to mow throughout the coolest parts of the day. The hot sun in the middle of the day is more likely to do damage to your freshly cut lawn. Cooler mowing = less stress to the leaf and a human who’s not a walking puddle.
When the Grass Is Dry, Cut It High
Summer can cause long dry periods; when this happens, make sure to adapt your lawn care and adjust the cutting height on your mower. Cutting the grass a bit higher will help it better withstand drought conditions, as the blades will hold onto more water. We suggest cutting your grass to a height of 5-7.5cm for ‘cool season’ grasses, and 3.5-6.5cm for ‘warm season’ grasses.
Stop Tearing Up the Turf – Get Sharp!
A dull mower will tear or fray grass rather than cut it. This causes more damage to grass health as it increases stress, slows down recovery, and reduces hydration. Combine this with the stress of those hot summers and you’ve got a brown-tipped, frayed, and uneven lawn. Remembering to check the sharpness of your blades every so often will promote grass health and most importantly, minimise stress.
Weed It and Reap
Removing weeds from your lawn is essential during summer. Weeds have aggressive root systems that steal moisture from your lawn. This can be highly problematic if it’s a dry season, where removing them becomes essential in ensuring survival through the summer heat and drought. Weeds also steal nutrients from your lawn; they absorb these nutrients faster than grass can.
Pulling out weeds is essential in protecting your lawn’s health, hydration, and nutrition during the most stressful season of the year.
Parched and Dangerous
Watering your grass during summer takes more than just a sprinkler – if you want a healthy lawn, your summer plan should involve technique, timing, and consistency.
1. Timing
Watering your lawn early in the morning (before 10am) is key. This reduces evaporation, and makes sure the grass dries before night, preventing disease.
2. Consistency
We suggest you aim for 1-1.5 inches of water per week (this includes rainfall!) 2-3 times a week. Deep watering encourages strong root growth, and spreading out watering days allows the soil to absorb the water and the roots to breathe.
3. Technique
Using timers, soil-moisture sensors, and weather-based controllers can help prevent over or under watering.
With just a little care and consistency, your lawn can stay healthy, green, and ready for anything summer throws its way.
p.s. I didn’t reference the client and I didnt make any seasonal remarks specific to Australia cause I wasn’t sure if I should