Quick Tips to Fix Common Summer Lawn Problems

Summertime is here, and with it, an impending battle on the front lines of the lawn. Drought! Bugs! Disease! Each awaiting their chance to wreak havoc and devastate the beautiful green turf you prepped over the winter and nurtured during the spring. With a cunning strategy and quick action, these tips will keep your grass looking lovely and luscious for the summer season.

1) Don’t forget to water!

As the season shifts, summer heat can devastate a healthy lawn in days without a proper watering schedule. In early summer, keep to watering early morning between the hours of 5:00-8:00am every other day. As the season moves to mid to late summer, shift to watering once or twice a week, but prolong the watering period to allow for deep water penetration. Your soil should be soaked 4 to 6 inches in depth for optimal summer support! If brown spots appear or grass begins to turn crunchy, adjust your watering schedule. If crunchy, brown, persists, it may be too late. Dormancy may have set in. Continue a once a week watering schedule to help the grass limp along to a cooler season.

2) Bugs, Moles, and Pests- Be gone!

Are you seeing holes in your yard, dead or dying patches, or wilting blades of grass in an otherwise well watered lawn? If so, there’s a high likelihood you’re dealing with more than meets the eye. Do you have Bugs? Pests? Moles creating holes and prepping for a deeper dive to cooler depths?

Seek the source: Establish what type of pest you’re dealing with. Common lawn pests include, Ants, Armyworms, Chinch Bugs, Grubs, Sod Webworms, Billbugs, etc…

Plan your attack: Seek a local Pest Control Professional or purchase the appropriate pest control concentrate (insecticide**) to treat your lawn yourself. Read the instructions and make sure you have the appropriate product for your grass and pest type. Quick action can eliminate unsightly spots and the destruction of your entire turf. In the case of moles, granular or liquid mole repellent can be highly effective. Traps, baits, and spikes, are also available.

3) Treat the Disease!

If you’re watering well and pests aren’t the issue, dying grass may be dealing with disease. Disease problems can take hold, especially when you have a large number of the same plants nearby. This happens to be the case for your lawn. Thousands of blades, susceptible if not treated properly.

Identify the illness:

There are several very common diseases among grasses in the summer season. Brown Patch, for instance, usually shows up during hot humid summers as large, irregular (circular) spots that generally appear dry or dead. Dollar Spot is caused by a soil based fungus that appears as small white circles, the size of a silver dollar. Powdery Mildew (also a fungus) is identified by white mycelium filaments that appear on the individual grass blades. As the disease takes effect, it will slowly transition the yard from yellow to brown and will noticeably thin out. Other diseases include, Summer Patch, Pythium Blight, Red Thread, Rust Disease, and Fairy Ring.

Treat and Terminate:

Once you’ve determined the disease impacting your lawn, purchase the appropriate fungicide** or call a local Lawn & Garden Expert to apply the best treatment. Waiting too long to act could cause serious damage to your turf.

No matter the pest, disease, or drought, a solutions focused approach will keep your lawn luscious and lovely for the summer season.

**Always wear safety equipment when dispersing insecticide and fungicide. Follow health and safety guidelines at all times.