With summer in full swing, it’s the perfect time to enjoy your outdoor space with family. To ensure your lawn becomes an oasis for family BBQs and outdoor activities, it’s important to give your lawn the care it needs to thrive. In this blog, we will discuss some essential Summer Lawn Care tips that will keep your lawn green, healthy, and ready for family fun.
Mowing your Lawn
Mowing your lawn regularly is key to maintaining its health and appearance during the summer months.
GreenThumb recommends implementing a good, regular mowing regime, once a week as minimum. Dry, sunny days are the best conditions for lawn mowing. It's important that mower blades are kept sharp or replaced when needed, to avoid causing damage to the grass plant. Also, it is vital, especially during the summer months that the grass is not cut too short. You should increase the height to 50mm (2’’) as this helps keep the grass cool and stops it drying out too quickly. If the grass is dry and not growing, do not mow it.
Watering your Lawn
Water is a precious resource and with the warm, dry weather comes the inevitable hosepipe bans. Just like us, our lawns need water to survive, but it’s important we are resourceful when it comes to watering our lawns.
You don’t need to overwater your lawn, as this starves the soil of the air it needs and can make it more susceptible to disease. Instead, if possible, GreenThumb recommend a single application and a timed approach, at least once a week for about 20 minutes. Water early morning or late evening, when the sun is not as strong, and the water will have a chance to soak into the soil before evaporating.
We would recommend making use of rainwater or grey water. Install a water butt or place buckets in your garden to watch the rain, this way you can save money and hydrate your lawn.
GreenThumb Oasis Water Conserver Treatment
GreenThumb’s Oasis treatment is an ideal complement to your lawn’s watering programme. This targeted water conserver significantly increases soil absorption of any available moisture, from morning dew, rain, or watering – meaning the lawn has access to what it needs and more importantly, reducing the need to water your lawn by up to 80%.
Seriously, watch this video to see exactly how the Oasis treatments works in your soil compared to just water.
GreenThumb Lawn Treatments
Through periods of dry weather, it’s important to fertilise your lawn with a slow-release fertiliser to provide nutrients over a longer period and to avoid over-fertilisation. GreenThumb use controlled-release no-scorch fertilisers, meaning the fertiliser only releases the nutrients when it rains or watered. The fertiliser will then close back up and wait for the next bit of water.
In short, having the fertiliser ready on your lawn in dry weather means when it rains, your lawn has all the nutrients it needs to recover quickly.
GreenThumb are currently treating lawns with our Summer Long treatment. Our Summer Long treatment is an essential part of maintaining a beautiful lawn. It helps to reduce those unwanted weeds and greens up your grass. It has the longest period we have ever produced, between 4 to 5 months. Meaning, if your lawn has this treatment, you’ll also be preparing it for the transition into Autumn.
Things to look out for
Red Thread: with the increase in humidity, you may notice Red Thread in your lawn. It’s a very common lawn disease that causes reddish/brown patches with red, needle-like stands extending from the grass blades. It’s often causes by high humidity, mostly common in the summer months. However, it can be seen in lawns affected by poor mowing, drought, thatch, compaction, or lack of feeding.
Generally, if GreenThumb customers are receiving their regular fertiliser treatments this should reduce the incidence of it. However, if Red Thread does occur and your lawn is struggling, speak to your local GreenThumb branch and they’ll be able to help - Find your local GreenThumb branch.
Keep an eye out for lawn pests – Chafer Grubs or Leatherjackets. These pests can cause significant damage to your lawn. The first sign will be your lawn losing colour, usually seen in patches rather than all over the lawn. If you pull at your lawn and it lifts easily from the soil, even splitting the turf, you may see grubs near the surface.
Now is the optimal time to treat, so again if you suspect this, please speak to your local GreenThumb branch. We have a Pest Management Treatment.
Lawn Activities
You’ve spent time caring and nurturing your lawn. Now, it’s time to enjoy it. Your lawn is more than just green grass – it’s a space for memorable family gatherings and outdoor activities. Here are a few ideas to make the most of your summer lawn…
Outdoor Dining: Set up a picnic table or patio furniture on your lawn to create an inviting space for outdoor meals and family BBQs.
Games and Sports: Utilise your lawn for various outdoor games and sports. How about, football, badminton, game of swing ball or set up your own sports day.
Water Fun: Beat the summer heat with water activities like slip ‘n’ slide or relax in an inflatable pool.
However you spend time in your garden this summer, we’d love for you to share your photos with us on our GreenThumb Social Media channels – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
Not to ruin the fun, but just remember, although grass is resilient, it can become damaged if an area is continually used. We would just recommend you move these items every so often to give your grass chance to breathe.