When the sun comes back out and temperatures start to rise it’s time to dust off the lawnmower, see how your lawn managed through the winter, and start planning your next landscaping project to make your home look its best! Before you start, though, you might want to consider some summer lawn tips to stop yourself from doing more harm than good.
While we love weekend warriors, sometimes DIY landscape design and maintenance can be a bad idea. Let’s take a look at some summer lawn care mistakes you might be making that’s doing more harm than good.
Summer Lawn Care Mistakes to Avoid
We know you’re eager to get your lawn back to being the jewel of the neighborhood this summer, but are you accidentally hurting it instead of helping? Lawn maintenance in summer isn’t just about pulling out the lawnmower and running it over the yard each week. Summer lawn care and garden care requires some attention and planning to keep it lush and healthy.
Some of the most common lawn care mistakes you might be making are:
- Overwatering your yard
- Starting a landscape design project without a plan
- Mowing the lawn too short
- Seeding your lawn in summer
- Ignoring the weeds taking over your lawn
Summer Lawn Care Mistake #1: An Overwatered Lawn
First up in our list of summer lawn care mistakes you’re probably making is overwatering your yard. While the summer heat might have you craving water by the bucket, your grass doesn’t need as much as you do! In fact, most yards only need between 1 and 1.5 inches of water a week during the summer months. Try to spread this out over three days of watering, but be sure to take into account any days it may rain!
Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t realize this and make one of the most common lawn care mistakes of overwatering their lawn and basically drowning the grass. The National Association of Landscape Professionals has even reported that 1 in 3 Americans don’t know how often to water their grass or how to grow a lush green lawn, so you’re not alone!
Summer Lawn Care Mistake #2: Not Having a Landscaping Plan
Part of taking care of your lawn is making sure your new landscaping project doesn’t destroy what you already have in place! Talk to any landscape design professional and they’ll tell you that one of the most important parts of any landscape design and installation is having a plan. This is one of the most common lawn care mistakes that homeowners make when they’re trying to do DIY projects. Without a plan, you’re much more likely to run into issues where you don’t have the right tools (a summer lawn care mistake in itself), choose the wrong plants, or have an end result you’re not happy with.
The easiest place to start is with a landscape planner online. This will allow you to see what kind of project you’re interested in, help budget and plan for it, as well as submit it to a landscape professional—us!— to bring your vision to life.
Summer Lawn Care Mistake #3: Cutting Grass Too Short
There’s more to cutting your grass than pulling out the lawnmower and going to town. If you want to have lush, green grass this summer, cutting it too short is one the most guaranteed ways to kill your lawn and leave you unhappy!
Rule number one for lawn maintenance in summer is to never cut off more than ⅓ of the current grass height. So if you get behind on your mowing, don’t try to catch up all at once by cutting it short. First, you’re likely to cut it too short, which we’ll get into more momentarily. Second, cutting off too much at once will limit its ability to absorb sunlight for photosynthesis and will weaken its root system.
Getting back to cutting grass too short, this is a common lawn care mistake homeowners make on a regular basis. While you may think you’re saving yourself from having to mow weekly or trying to get your grass short as a reaction to it growing quickly as summer hits, the reality is scalping your lawn will put your grass into shock and likely kill it.
Pro Tip: For summer lawn maintenance in Albany, NY and the Capital Region, keep your grass at a minimum of 3 inches during the summer months for optimal health.
Summer Lawn Care Mistake #4: Seeding a Lawn
The clearest way to talk about this summer lawn tip is to say don’t do it! Summer is the wrong time to seed a lawn in Upstate NY (or anywhere, actually). The ideal time for seeding a lawn in the Capital Region is around Labor Day. Cool season grasses thrive best in New York State lawns (learn more on what grass is right for Upstate NY lawns after this article!).
Seeding a lawn during the summer is most likely to result in it turning brown and dying before it ever has the chance to grow. Seeding in late summer or early fall typically has a better temperature for seeds to take hold and germinate. A professional landscape service will know when the weather is right and what type of grass to seed your lawn with so that you don’t have to worry.
Summer Lawn Care Mistake #5: Letting Weeds Run Wild
This summer lawn care mistake requires advanced planning to avoid! Many homeowners struggle with crabgrass and other weeds taking over lawns in summer. The best way to preempt this invasion is with a pre-treatment for crabgrass in early spring. As summer progresses, keep on top of any weeds that manage to grow to keep them from spreading and choking out your healthy grass.
When it comes to summer lawn care mistakes, how many of these were you making without realizing it? With busy schedules juggling work, family time, vacations, and trying to relax it’s easy to see how staying on top of the weeds can be difficult. This is the war that never ends and another reason why you may find hiring a landscape professional for lawn maintenance in summer is the most effective way to keep a beautiful lawn while saving both time, money, and frustration.
If you’re considering a new landscaping project for this summer, now’s the perfect time! Check out our Project Planner and see how a water feature installation or patio installation could transform your landscaping and give you the home of your dreams. Save your plans or submit them to us and one of our landscape professionals will be in touch to get started!
Curious about water features and how they’d work for your yard? Check out these guides for information, tips, and inspiration.
