Its the first day of July and wow, does it ever feel like summer. Next week’s forecast is showing highs in the 90s, sunny and hot, with high humidity. This means a few things for your lawn.
First, our customer support team has been receiving many calls about dry lawns already. If your lawn is in full sun, it is going to dry out much more quickly than a shaded lawn. Over this next week, the sun will be out in full force. We are suggesting that you get ahead of this heat wave with your sprinklers. Watering your lawn a few times per week for a total of 1 inch of water will do wonders to keep your lawn healthy this summer. The best time to water is in the morning, ideally between 6 and 10 am. Please, do not water in the evening!
The next common theme we’re seeing is fungus. Many things are coming together to create an ideal environment for fungus to thrive. Do you remember in science class, you swabbed a door knob, put that on a petri dish, and added heat to eventually found a fungus growing? That’s exactly what is happening on your lawn.
With the high heat and humidity, the environment is becoming the incubator for fungus to thrive. Normally, cooler temperatures overnight allow your lawn some respite from the fungus pressures. With the high overnight temperatures, your lawn is not catching a break and the fungus is thriving. If you see a brown patch, section, or tint developing, give us a call. We can help you with a few strategies to mitigate it naturally or prescribe a curative treatment to suppress the spread.
With this summer pressure on your lawn, one of the best things you can do for it is just leave it alone. It’s not uncommon for my lawn to go 2 or 3 weeks between mowings in the heat of the summer. If it’s not raining, and you’re not watering, leaving the leaf blades of your lawn long will help it retain moisture in the plant tissue and in the soil. Sure, many for-hire mowing companies won’t like this advice. But the reality is that many mowing companies do more harm than good mowing your lawn routinely during these hot and dry times.
As always, we’re here 9-5 weekdays to help with these and any other issues you may have! [Jason]
