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With the start of December comes the start of Summer, with rising temperatures and lots of outdoor activities in the gorgeous weather. Which means, lots of backyard fun on your lawn!
It’s also this time of year when it’s important that we understand the effect the increased temperatures also have on our grass. The trouble with some parts of the country during summer are extended dry periods – whilst other more tropical areas typically experience their wet season, so any advice needs to consider your current weather-pattern circumstances.
Remember to consider a few important things now, to ensure your lawn survives the summer heat:
The big key to ensuring your lawn stays in tip-top shape throughout the hot weather is a combination of the right lawn-type coupled with the appropriate amount of irrigation and care. Regular deep-watering to encourage a stronger and deeper root-system and an occasional nutrient-boost with a high-quality, lawn-fertiliser application will help to keep your lawn looking great. The healthier the lawn, the less susceptible to weeds or disease it becomes and allows it to better withstand any long hot-and-dry-spells that may come your way.
Ensuring you are conserving water, whilst ensuring you are super-efficient and effective with water usage, is a big part of summer lawn care. Watering in the heat of the day will cause a lot of moisture loss due to evaporation. Watering your lawn in the morning or evening will allow the water to be absorbed and limit the amount of water lost to evaporation, and remember, it is also super important to make sure you follow local water restrictions if there are any in place.
One of the big points to a healthy lawn over summer is to make sure you are mowing your lawn regularly. You need to keep on top of the turf leaf growth, meaning you don’t want to remove huge amounts at any one time. Removing any more than around 1/3 of the leaf can cause stress to the grass roots, which is something you really need to try and avoid during summer.
There is some evidence that suggests that leaving a longer leaf on your lawn is better during summer for your lawn to manage the heat, but there is also evidence to the contrary stating that a short leaf will result in less moisture loss. We recommend sticking to the length your lawn is accustomed to, and the length that you prefer. But don’t cut it so short as to scalp it or cut off excessive amounts of the leaf at any one time!
When you are mowing your lawn, always do it earlier in the day or as the sun has started to go down again. The hot sun in the middle of the day is more likely to do damage to your freshly cut lawn, so doing so when it is cooler will cause less stress.
Additionally, a sharp set of mower blades will cut much cleaner and also reduce harm and stress to your turf, so make sure you have checked the blades and have replaced or sharpened them if necessary.
Finally, choosing the correct turf type is a major factor in how your lawn will survive over summer. Generally, a drought-tolerant and warm-season turf-type like either Sir Walter or Zoysia's are great options for tough Australian summers.
Lawn Solutions Australia also have a great video to help with all your summer lawn care needs – take a look here if you’d like some more information.
We’d love to hear from you – do you have any tips and tricks when it comes to preparing your lawn for summer and caring for your turf during the warmer months? Leave them in the comments below!
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