Energize Your Summer Lawn By Fran Phalin At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Many people let their lawns go without any lawn care whatsoever in this summer heat and don't bother maintaining the state of their turf. However, if you want to have a green and lush lawn around your home, you will need to take extra steps to make sure your lawn thrives in the next summer months.

Mowing

Mowing is essential to developing a healthy and strong lawn regardless of whether your lawn is fertilized, treated with control products, or irrigated. Lawns that have a consistent mowing schedule are less prone to weeds, retains moisture better, and has a healthier bearing than lawns that are not mowed appropriately.

Maintain Mower

But before you even take out the lawn mower, check to see that the blades are sharp enough and doesn't require any maintenance. A good rule of thumb is to sharpen your blades with every four hours of mowing. Dull mower blade frays the ends of blades and results in brown tips which are not very attractive and can mean damaged turfgrass.

Control Mower Height

Avoid letting the grass grow too tall by cutting about two to two and a half inches. After mowing consistently once a week, you can just focus on cutting the grass gradually instead of all at once. Mowing height is significant because a lawn mowed too short will have a shallow root system with little total root mass. When soil moisture becomes limiting, the closely mowed lawns usually show stress first and the loss of turfgrass plants is more likely. Higher mowing heights during the summer period will keep soil temperatures cooler, preserve soil moisture and help maintain turfgrass quality.

Lawn experts say that higher mowing heights result in fewer weeds per unit area. The result of fewer weeds is due to the fact that higher grass provides more shading and becomes more of an obstacle to the weed seedlings during the initial establishment phases.

When to Mow

The rule of thumb for mowing is to mow when your lawn is dry. Grass that is wet will be difficult to mow and may even cause problems for some mowers. Waiting reasonably after heavy rains is fine, but waiting long periods of time because of wet grass is not a good idea if you are trying to maintain a healthy and consistent mowing schedule.

Pay close attention to your lawn since grass can lose its moisture through newly cut tips if your area hasn't seen much rain or if the hot temperature becomes too extreme. The lawn mower's weight and wheels can also play a factor in causing stress to your lawn, so that is something else to keep in mind for future lawn maintenance repair.

Mulch

To protect your plants during the summer's heat, use mulch to trap moisture and keep soil cool. If you have already applied mulch a few months ago, fluff it up. Mulch can be any material that is applied to the top of the soil surface for protection of the covered area. Mulch also has the benefit of reducing weed growth, but only when the soil itself is weed free and when applied directly to kill existing weeds or prevent weed germination.

For specific summer lawn care, mulch protects tree trunks and shrubs from tangible damage by lawn equipment. Mulched plants also produce more roots in surrounding mulch. If you use grass clippings collected from mowing and leaves, keep in mind that this mulch will decompose very quickly. On the other hand, inorganic mulch like gravel or pebbles rarely need to be refilled. Also, as plants grow and fill in the bed area, less mulch will be needed.

Mulch is an efficient and easy way to replenish your plants and soil during this summer's heat and to protect against any harsh conditions the weather may bestow on your lawn and plants.

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