We know that lawn maintenance can be confusing sometimes, there is so much to consider and it is all about timing. Different seasons and weather conditions call for different types of maintenance. Not to mention, that each grass type should also be handled according to its general characteristics and preferences.
Warm-season grasses are extremely popular in South Africa, along with evergreen grasses. In summer, these grasses thrive – aggressive grasses can grow like wildfire, so it is best to be prepared. Here is our list of our top tips to prepare for summer!
- Make Sure Your Mower Is In Top Form
Like we said, your warm-season grasses (like Kikuyu, Buffalo, Bermuda and Berea/Richmond) love summer. This is when their growth rate and competitiveness is at their peak. To be prepared, we recommend ensuring that your mower or tractor is properly serviced and in good shape to tackle grass maintenance in summer.
- Spring Clean Your Garden
During spring, you can prepare for summer by doing some cleaning up in your garden. This includes raking up leaves, detaching and removing other organic materials such as twigs, rocks, etc. We also recommend aerating and scarifying, if necessary.
Although this tip to “spring clean” your garden might sound easy, we assure you it isn’t. Depending on your garden size and what plants surround your lawn, you may have a lot of work ahead of you.
- Weeds Like Summer Too
Summer annual weeds are exactly that, summer weeds. This is the time for them to flower, seed and spread. You can tackle your weed control in 1 of 2 ways, by either preventing weeds (using a pre-emergent herbicide) or applying herbicide to the affected areas of your lawn (once you see a problem starting to develop).
Pre-emergent herbicides are specifically designed to disrupt weed germination, usually only effective for 3 months and should be reapplied regularly.
- Top Dress
However you want to go about it, we recommend top dressing your lawn in the springtime. This will give it a much needed boost of nutrients after winter and just before summer rolls around. If you’re unsure about giving your soil nutrients, don’t worry, we’ve got you and your lawn covered!
- Mow Like You Mean It
Warm-season and evergreen grass are going to come back in full swing. Your break from mowing the lawn all winter long is definitely over. This means that you will need to bump up your maintenance schedule. Some grasses may require mowing up to 3-4 times per week.
Your lawn will still require regular maintenance on top of our 5 tips outlined above. We recommend that you check your irrigation system beforehand and get ready to refresh a thirsty lawn. You can also take this opportunity to fill in bare patches as part of your grass maintenance in summer. This can be done by overseeding or you can contact us for some instant grass that is beautiful and ready to be installed!