Of all the plants in our landscape, it seems the one area that needs
the most attention is the lawn. Trees and shrubs seem content to live
pretty much without our constant attention. But ignore your lawn and
before long you’re living in a wild meadow.

Here are my Ten Turf Tips to get your lawn safely through the heat of
summer.


Don’t over-water
At the height of summer, there’s a temptation to water your lawn every
day. Just because you need a drink of water doesn’t mean your lawn
does. Instead of daily watering, give your lawn a thorough soaking
less frequently, once or perhaps twice a week. This practice forces
the grass to push down deeper roots making it stronger and healthier.

Avoid over fertilizing
If one pound of lawn fertilizer is good, ten pounds must be ten times
as good, right? Wrong. Apart from being a waste of money, applying too
much fertilizer or applying it unevenly can burn the blades of grass,
leaving brown spots. Overdoing the fertilizer, in combination with
over-watering, can also increase thatching which prevents water
reaching the roots and encourages disease and pest problems.

Natural fertilizer
Leave grass clippings on your lawn after you mow. As they decompose,
they will naturally add a certain amount of fertilizer back into the
lawn. I should add that this works best when you’re mowing on a
regular basis so that the coverage of clippings is fairly light.

Naughty Fido
Another cause of brown spots is dog urine, particularly female dog
urine. If you see it happen, your best bet is to grab the hose and
give it a quick blast of water. The lawn, that is, not the dog. This
will dilute much of the urine before it has a chance to “burn” the
grass. I’ve heard from readers who recommend feeding dogs a low
protein diet to reduce nitrogen in the urine, or adding tomato juice
to the feed or baking soda to the water. I strongly suggest asking
your veterinarian before trying any solution of that nature!

The mower did it!
No dogs in the neighborhood, but you still have a brown spot? If you
refuel your mower while it is standing on the lawn, spilled or runoff
fuel could be the reason. Refill the mower’s tank away from the lawn
or place a tarp under the mower. Or be very, very careful.

When to water
Regardless of where you live, the best time to water your lawn is
between 5:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Watering in the heat of the afternoon
means that much of the water will evaporate before it can filter down
to the roots. Watering at night can increase the likelihood of pest
and disease problems.

How much water?
One way to see how much water your sprinkler is putting out is what I
call the Tuna Can Test. Put a few empty tuna cans or cat food cans out
on the lawn and turn on your sprinkler for exactly 15 minutes. Turn it
off and measure the depth of the water caught in the cans. Take the
average depth and multiply by two, to tell you how much water you
grass would receive in 30 minutes. As a rule of thumb, that should
ideally be about one inch.

Keep off the grass!
As much as possible, avoid walking on grass that has just been watered
or when dew is still on the ground. This is also true for frost-
covered lawns in the winter. You could bruise or damage the blades of
grass making them susceptible to disease.

Walk on the grass
… when it’s not wet, that is. Put on a pair of golf shoes and stroll
around your domain while your body weight pushes the spikes into the
lawn to provide much needed aeration. You can actually buy lawn
aerator overshoes, but some people find them awkward and difficult to
keep on.

Use a reel mower
Sometimes called a push mower, a reel mower can be a good solution for
a small to mid-sized lawn. No more buying expensive fuel, inhaling
smelly fumes or splitting your eardrums. Plus it’s healthy outdoor
exercise! The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about
trees, shrubs and landscaping to and for
resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free
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