Cooling Your Lawn in Summer Heat: Lawn Management Tips to Keep Your Lawn Green and Healthy
Extreme heat is a big problem for those who are responsible for keeping lawns looking great. Lawn care is a serious business, and extreme heat can make it more difficult to do the job well. There are many factors that contribute to heat stress on lawns, but the most common one is high temperatures in the air and ground.
Heat stress occurs when plants are exposed to temperatures that are too high or when they do not have enough water or other resources they need to survive.
The article will discuss how extreme heat affects lawn care and what you can do about it.
The summer heat can make lawn maintenance difficult, but just because your grass turns brown does not mean it’s sick or that it can’t bounce back. Many people like seeing their grass turn brown in the fall before it becomes green again in the spring. Whether you like to let your grass grow naturally or you find it difficult to maintain a green lawn, you can use these techniques to keep it that way.
Severe Heat Has Caused the Grass to Turn Brown.
Most American lawns are composed up of cool-season grasses. These include the likes of Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, and perennial ryegrass. The optimal range for their development is between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (16-24 C.). Lawns turn brown in July because these grasses go dormant in response to the increasing heat.
Grass maintenance in hot weather is different from lawn maintenance in colder weather. It’s important to take it easy on your grass and not overdo it:
Intense Summer Heat Management for Your Lawn
On warmer days, let your lawn grow taller before trimming it.
As a general rule, the grass should never have more than a third of its height trimmed.
When you give grass time to establish deeper roots, it becomes more resistant to heat and drought and requires less maintenance over time. Keep your lawnmower blades sharp, as cutting grass with a dull blade is a waste of time and energy. If your blades are in good shape, the grass will recover from each trim more rapidly. In extreme heat or drought, it is recommended to let grass grow longer rather than short. More frequent trimming may be required in shady areas.
Extreme Heat and Your Lawn: What You Can Do
Lawn Irrigation.
Overwatering or watering the lawn deeply and infrequently will not help. For best results, let the soil to dry out a little. In the warmer summer months, water your lawn deeply in the mornings (but not every day). In order to prevent the grass from drying up too rapidly, it is best to water it first thing in the morning.
To Improve Your Grass, Fertilize It.
Put out only the minimum amount of fertilizer. Do not apply fertilizer during the warmest part of the summer. Grass has a net energy drain at this time of year. When you fertilize, you divert that life force towards growth, which can cause stress. Keep foot traffic to a minimum. Stressed grass is more likely to be damaged by foot traffic. People should be kept off the lawn as long as the heat wave persists.
Conclusion.
Climate change is a global phenomenon, and it is affecting our planet in many ways. One of the most noticeable changes is the increase in temperature around the world. The heatwave that we are experiencing now has been classified as a level 3 heatwave, which means that it is considered to be an extreme weather event. Consequently, maintaining a healthy and nourished lawn would be a challenge you would want to embrace to keep your lawn from turning brown.