How to Care for Your Lawn this Summer

The best way to green up the lawn in summer is to feed with a complete organic-based fertiliser, like Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Lawn Food. The slow-release nutrients in this product will help to promote lush green grass and strong root growth, but as it breaks down slowly, the lawn doesn't experience a surge in growth nor do you experience a surge in mowing. Plus, the organic matter will help promote long term soil health.

Overtime, soil can become hydrophobic or water repellent. A waxy layer builds up on top of the soil, preventing water from penetrating the soil surface. Consequently, even with regular watering, the soil fails to absorb moisture, leaving the grass roots dry and stressed.

To fix this, apply Yates Waterwise Hose-On Soil Wetter to the lawn. This helps break down the waxy, water-repellent layer, allowing moisture to penetrate more evenly and deep down below the soil surface and into the root zone where it's needed. After application, follow up with a good, deep watering.

How often you water per week and per day in summer is determined by the weather conditions, amount of sun, soil quality and type, and other environmental factors. During hot, dry and windy conditions, lawns need more frequent watering. On days with extreme heat, the lawn may even need watering in the morning and the afternoon. Lawns in full sun will need watering more often than shadier lawns. Sandy soils and/or poor soils also means more frequent watering - so make sure you are using soil wetters and organic-based lawn fertilisers to help improve soil structure and soil moisture retention.

Early signs of under-watering include wilted leaves, and loss of colour, while later signs include crispy dry leaves, lawn yellowing and browning, and patchy lawns.

As a general guide, on extreme days water your lawn 1-2 times per day (keep an eye on the weather forecast and water your lawn before adverse conditions), and in average summer weather water your lawn once a day 3 times per week.

Hand watering is a cheap and effective way to water a lawn, but can also take up a lot time and water, especially during the summer months. It's suitable for small lawns, but for medium to large-sized lawns, consider installing sprinklers. Sprinklers can be attached to the hose and can be set with a timer to maximise efficiency. You can go one further with pop-up sprinklers. They can be automated, and settings can even be adjusted through your phone.

When watering, you should aim to apply at least 10 mm of water to your lawn. To understand how long you need to water to apply 10 mm, follow these easy steps:

Step 1

Place a few clean tuna cans evenly over the lawn - the more cans you place out, the more accurate the final calculation will be.

Step 2

Run your irrigation system for 10 minutes. 

Step 3

Using a ruler, record the depth of water captured in each can in millimetres.

Step 4

Add the figures together and divide by the number of cans to obtain the average depth of water. Then calculate 100 divided by this figure to work out how many minutes you will need to run your irrigation system for your lawn to receive 10 mm of water.

Example

100/(average depth of water) = approximate minutes run time

100/5 mm = 20 minutes run time

During summer, mowing higher than usual will encourage your grass to grow deeper roots, enabling it to reach water from lower down in the soil. Aim to cut at around 1-2 cm higher than usual; that's 4-5 cm for warm-season grasses such as Couch, Buffalo and Kikuyu, and around 3-4 cm for cool-season grasses such as Fine Fescue, Perennial Ryegrass and Bent.

Make sure blades on your mower are sharp as dull blades can shred the grass blades, leaving you with a messy-looking lawn. Also, only ever cut your lawn when the leaves are dry.

The best time of day to mow is early in the morning or in the evening, otherwise midday heat might stress or damage the leaves.

It's important your lawn is not under stress when applying a herbicide, so if you've been in periods of drought or extended dry periods, you need to water the lawn thoroughly for a couple of weeks before applying lawn weed control products.

Once the lawn not under any moisture stress, you can control common broadleaf weeds like Thistles and Dandelions with easy to apply hose-on herbicides. If you have a couch or kikuyu lawn use Yates Weed'n'Feed® and if you have a buffalo lawn, apply Yates Buffalo PRO® Weed'n'Feed. Both are boosted with nutrients to help green up the lawn.

Lawn pests, such as Curl Grubs, larvae of the African Black Beetle and Argentinian Scarab, and Lawn Armyworm are prevalent during summer.

Curl Grubs generally have distinct 'C' shaped pale cream or white bodies, six prominent legs and usually have a swollen darker tip to the abdomen. They can cause serious damage to turf grasses as they chew through the roots. Lawn Armyworm are so named because of their army-like nature, where large numbers swiftly decimate expansive areas of lawns and other vegetation. 

Brown patches or areas of dead grass are a good signs you have a pest infestation. You can control these lawn grubs with Yates Grub Kill & Protect for Lawns.