When you hit the road to go on a much-needed summer vacation, you might have a family friend watch your house or feed your pets. But what about your lawn? It’s easy to forget that if you’re not caring for your grass over a period of time, the effects of summer, like burned grass, can really take a toll.
Green can turn to yellow or brown, the blades can thin out, and weeds will proliferate. Here are some of the ways a summer heat or drought can harm your lawn, and tips on how you can repair it!
Burned Grass
One of the more common summer lawn care problems is burned grass. A prolonged drought can harm your lawn, turning what was once thick and verdant into a short, brown, patchy mess.
If you come home from that camping trip to find your green lawn brown and burnt, don’t walk on it! Compaction can speed up the burning process, killing your grass faster. Set up sprinklers evenly over the lawn and water it to a depth of half an inch every two-to-four weeks. Don’t mow until it’s three inches high, and keep the clippings on the lawn to help keep in the moisture.
If it’s a very bad case, mow it short and reseed, using a high-phosphorous fertilizer. Make sure you’re pressing the seed into the dirt. Water it daily, keeping the soil moist until the grass is two inches tall. Don’t jump the gun, though – a brown lawn isn’t always dead. Species like Kentucky Bluegrass can go dormant to survive drought conditions.
Chemically Burned Grass
If the drought did indeed harm your lawn and you’re taking the step of reseeding, it’s likely you’ll burn it chemically. Too much fertilizer is a very quick way to kill it for real, and over application is a common mistake.
A “fertilizer burn” is actually the drying of the grass via mineral salt buildup on the soil, turning the grass brown. Whether it survives is based on how much fertilizer you used, the health of the lawn itself, and how quickly you act to help it.
If you’ve poured too much fertilizer on the lawn, remove it as quickly as possible before it dissolves. Take out the sprinkler and water the lawn, which can dilute and wash away the salt from the roots of the grass; soak it well, until the soil can’t retain anymore, and water every day for seven days afterward.
When summer comes, you don’t want to be stuck at home just because of your lawn. Summer should be a time of vacation, not babysitting your grass. But when you want to go out of town for more than a week, you don’t want to leave it in the hands of your neighbour. Taking care of your lawn while you’re on vacation is a great service we offer, and it really takes the worry out of over fertilizing and ruining your lawn for the rest of the summer.
Leave your pride and joy in good hands – call us if you’re heading out of town!
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