5 Ways You Can Begin Preparing Your Lawn for Summer in Northeast Ohio

Summer in Northeast Ohio is one of the best seasons. 

No one can resist warm, long days enjoying poolside relaxation or fun-filled family gatherings or amusement park visits.

While summer is enjoyable for you, it can be tough on your grass. 

You want to do what’s best for your grass, but you can get pretty busy. You don’t want to miss the proper steps to getting it through the season. 

Let’s talk about how you can go about preparing a lawn for a hot summer so it looks good all year long. 

5 Tips For the Best Lawn Care For Summer

When preparing a lawn for summer, there are certain things you don’t want to neglect. 

Try these tips to get your lawn summer-ready. 

1. Spring Cleaning

It can be challenging to take care of grass in the summer.  

Your first summer prep step is to take care of your grass in spring with a proper cleanup. This involves raking up dead leaves and debris from winter, as well as clearing the lawn so it can receive proper sunlight, air, water, and nutrients. 

Also, prep your mower so that the blades are sharp, tires are full of air, oil is changed, and it works properly. 

In March or April, have a professional apply a granular fertilizer application with organic nutrients to encourage top growth and maintain turf vigor. They’ll apply a second round in May to continue delivering organic nutrients. Nutrients will continue at regular intervals – another one in June/July, 

2. Weed Prevention and Elimination

It’s also important to keep weeds out to take care of your grass in the summer. 

Your lawn care professional will apply pre-emergent herbicides to keep crabgrass and other grassy weeds at bay. In May, you’ll receive a second pre-emergent herbicide treatment. As weeds like dandelions begin emerging, you may also receive a post-emergent weed application to stay ahead of them.

3. Cut Your Grass Properly 

Around April, your cool-season grass will start growing again. And when you start mowing, lawn care for summer includes doing this properly. 

Keep your mowing height to 3 to 4 inches high, only removing up to one-third of the grass blade  at a time. The frequency ends up being weekly as your grass grows more vigorously in spring. 

By keeping a high mowing height, you help your grass prepare for the heat and drought of summer. 

Mowing will become less frequent during the hotter summer months as your lawn’s growth slows – this amounts to roughly every five days in spring and fall and every 10 days in summer and late fall.

4. Water Your Lawn Correctly 

It’s also important to think about lawn watering as a part of lawn care for summer. 

You may have received enough water from rain during the spring, but once summer settles in, water one to two times weekly for approximately 45 to 60 minutes. You want to provide a good soak versus waterings that are too short and don’t reach your lawn’s roots. The target is 1 inch of water weekly.

5. Don’t Forget to Take Care of Insects

If you have any turf insect problems, you’ll want to stay ahead of those so your lawn isn’t stressed out from both summer weather and pests. 

In June, for instance, you’ll want your turf professional to take care of grub prevention to avoid lawn damage as part of preparing a lawn for summer.

Then, during summer, you’ll want to start watching for any insect activity or damage from pests like chinch bugs or bill bugs. 

You Can Have Both Summertime Fun and a Great Lawn

Tending to your lawn can be worrisome. You want to care for your grass in the summer so that it can thrive and look good all through the summer months. 

If you think this can be challenging, let Turf Pride help. We are experts in preparing your lawn for any season – summer included. And your next to-do will be enjoying your summer lawn in all its glory. 

Want to improve your lawn’s health and create a thicker, greener lawn? Turf Pride can help. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we’ll customize a plan that gives you the most attractive lawn on the block.