The sun has been raging lately. Excessive heat from the sun causes lawns to be stressed and your mowing and watering schedules may need to be adjusted in order to help your lawn thrive.
Watering
If you think back on your school days, you may remember the cycle of water. When the sun heats up rivers, lakes, ocean, etc. the water turns into a vapor that rises; eventually turns into the clouds. This process is called evaporation. Evaporation isn’t exclusive to bodies of the water though. If something or someone contains water, it can be evaporated.
When you water your lawn during the day while the sun is out; a decent amount of the water will evaporate before reaching the roots of your grass. When a lawn isn’t receiving adequate water the roots will become shallow in search of moisture. The lawn will eventually die as shallow roots are breeding grounds for lawn disease and pests.
Healthy lawns have deep roots. The goal when you water your lawn is to get water down to those roots. The way this can be achieved is by only watering at night or early in the morning. This gives the water time to get deep enough into the soil to quench the grass. This is also deep enough into the soil that the water will be retained while higher up in the soil is dryer from evaporation. Our watering recommendations are watering three times a week for 15 minutes per zone.
A great boost for lawns to encourage hydration is a product we offer called Revive. It is a wetting agent and soil conditioner that paves the way for water penetration deep within the soil. Revive is also enriched with iron and other nutrients and is a great optional addition we offer to customers on our Weed Wipe-Out and Fertilization program. Any lawn can benefit from a summer treatment of Revive.
Mowing
The standard for cool season grasses that grow best in Colorado like Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass and Tall fescue is to cut them at about 3”. This height offers the roots protection from the sun and helps the soil retain water. If cut shorter your lawn can become stressed more easily which makes more work for you later on down the road.
The summer is a little different depending on the year. If there is excessive heat for many days the 3” may not offer enough shade and you will need to raise your mower blades. Most lawn mowers have different height settings. Raise the blades by at least one setting. Just a half an inch more on your grass blades will offer a lot more shades to the roots and soil.
Some people worry that raising the blade will cause their lawns to look unkempt. As long as you are cutting your lawn in a uniform fashion it will look taken care of. If you hire a company to keep your lawn manicured for you, relay your needs to your mowing company or even ask them for recommendations since they have eyes on your lawn on a regular basis. If you are located in the Denver Metro area and need a mowing service we recommend Mow Time.
Summer heat is stressful to all lawns. Now you are loaded with tips on how to help your lawn survive the sun. If you are interested in Revive and setting up a lawn care program to help your lawn thrive call Erbert Lawns.
