The later part of summer is a wonderful time for assessing your lawn and figuring out what steps you can take to keep your grass healthy and gear it up for the cooler temperatures of fall. In this post, we have listed some tips for late summer lawn care that can help your lawn get the care it needs in the late summer as well as thrive year-round.

Your List of Handy Late Summer Lawn Care Tips

1. Water in the Early Morning

Early mornings are the coolest time of the day in the summertime. Watering during the early morning will let your turf soak up every drop of water and help it stay hydrated throughout the day without being affected by wind or evaporation. A timing between 4 to 10 am will work best.

Also, keep your grass higher than before while cutting, as it will offer more shade to the soil so that it can stay cool for longer.

2. Have a Sharp Mower Blade

Ensure that your mower blade is sharp. You may not have checked your mower’s blade all summer. However, it is important to check it now as a clean cut helps to retain water and keep your grass healthy.

Looking at your mower’s blade can help you know if it is dull. Alternatively, observe the edges of the grass after a fresh cut – if they are ragged, you need a sharper blade, and if they have a clean cut, your blade is sharp enough.

3. Control Weeds

When you find weeds appearing on your lawn, remove them by pulling them out. Although a single weed would not cause much damage, when weeds produce seed, even a single weed can create an infestation.

Besides pulling weeds out, spraying weed killer can also prove to be effective in keeping weeds away, but you need to be careful of where you spray as well as the type of spray. Seek the help of lawn care pros to completely conquer weeds.

4. Aerate Your Lawn

This is another noteworthy point among the summer lawn care tips. Lawn aeration lets increased moisture and oxygen reach the grassroots that leads to healthy roots. And healthy roots result in healthy turf and a healthy lawn.

5. Overseed Your Lawn with Better Grass Varieties

Fall and late summer are the ideal times for reviving lawns with new, better turf varieties. The competition from weeds is low during these times. The temperatures gradually drop and the new grass seedlings will become mature before winter. The next spring, the new turf will crowd out weeds.

6. Irrigate Properly

It is crucial to keep the new grass seed moist after you have planted it so that it can absorb moisture and develop its first root. If the seed dries out in the early stage of germination, there are chances that the seedling will fail. Keeping the surface of the soil moist can allow the seedling to develop roots and mature.

During warm, windy, and sunny days, you may need to water your lawn multiple times to keep your soil surface hydrated.

7. Do a Soil Test and Apply Fertilizer

If your lawn soil does not have a proper pH (acidity level) or lacks nutrients, the lawn health will suffer. Getting your soil tested can help you find out deficiencies, if any, that can be rectified. A lawn care expert in Iowa can guide you on applying the necessary fertilizer to promote healthy, green grass in the late summer and year-round.

Get Your Late Summer Lawn Care Needs Covered with AATB!

Rely on the experts in lawn care to provide your lawn with the right late summer lawn treatment in Iowa. All American Turf Beauty offers customized lawn care in summer based on your lawn and lawn needs. Request a consultation with one of our lawn care professionals today to know more about our summer lawn care services!