With this extreme heat, it can be tough to keep your lawn healthy in the Summer. Here are 4 quick tips to keep that lawn looking great!

1) Check your sprinklers to ensure the landscape is getting adequate coverage. Increase/decrease duration of watering as necessary.

2) Set the sprinklers to water in the morning time- not the evening time. I only recommend watering in the afternoon or evening if you notice wilting or severe plant stress due to heat.

3) Mow the lawn regularly. I recommend mowing once a week at a height of 4″-5″ for St Augustine grass. Cutting high stresses the grass less and allows the blades of grass to shade the ground- protecting soil from the sun. Another benefit of mowing regularly and at a high setting is the prevention of excess thatch; mowing too short, or too infrequent can generate copious thatch- and that’s bad for the lawn. Some cultivars of  St Augustine and most Zyosia and Bermuda cultivars like to be cut shorter, at around 3″.

4) Make sure the lawn has a pest control plan implemented. Summer time can be an active season for pests that can devour the lawn. The heat can create a situation where the grass is stressed (especially if the above mentioned practices are ignored). When the grass is stressed, it can create an opening for opportunistic pests to gobble up the grass unchecked.