You’re watering your lawn, but it is still turning brown, thinning out, or just not looking as good as it did this spring. So what’s going on?
It can be hard to understand why your lawn is struggling during the summer even though you are watering. While water is incredibly important, it is only one part of the equation.
Most lawns in Minnesota and Wisconsin are made up of cool season grasses. They love the conditions we typically experience in spring and fall, but summer brings a completely different set of challenges.
Here are seven reasons your lawn might struggle during the summer, even when you’re watering.
1. You Haven’t Increased Your Watering Enough for Summer
One of the first things to consider is simply how much water you are applying. A watering schedule that worked great in May may not provide nearly enough water in July. As temperatures increase, your lawn loses more moisture through evaporation and transpiration. Longer days, hotter temperatures, wind, and lower humidity can all increase how quickly soil dries out.
As a general guideline, lawns often need 1.5 times more water during the summer compared to the spring and fall.
The important takeaway is that your lawn’s water requirements change throughout the year. If your irrigation schedule stays exactly the same from spring through fall, there will probably be times when you are applying too much or too little. Rather than watering for a certain number of minutes, pay attention to how much water is actually reaching the lawn and adjust based on weather conditions. Also, watch out for our weekly newsletter which tells you how much to water based on the conditions.
2. Some Parts of Your Lawn Need More Water Than Others
Have you ever wondered why one section of your lawn looks great while another area just 20 feet away is struggling? The answer may be the environment around the grass. Buildings, trees, driveways, sidewalks, slopes, landscape beds, and even the direction your house faces can create small differences in growing conditions called microclimates.
Grass next to a driveway or sidewalk, for example, can experience additional heat from the pavement. A south or west facing area may receive considerably more afternoon sun than another part of the property. Grass underneath a large tree may be competing with tree roots for available moisture.
That means two areas receiving exactly the same amount of irrigation may respond very differently.
If the same portion of your lawn struggles every summer, don’t automatically assume the entire lawn needs more water. That particular area may simply have greater water needs.
3. Water Can Prevent Drought Stress, but It Can’t Prevent Heat Stress
This is an important distinction. Most lawns in Minnesota and Wisconsin contain cool season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and fine fescues. As their name suggests, these grasses prefer cooler growing conditions. During periods of prolonged summer heat, the grass can become stressed even when adequate moisture is available.
High daytime temperatures combined with warm nighttime temperatures can be particularly difficult. The plant is using energy to survive while its ability to grow and recover is reduced.
Sun exposure also matters. Areas receiving intense sunlight throughout long summer days can experience considerably more stress than protected areas.
Different species and varieties of grass respond differently as well. You may even notice one type of grass beginning to brown while grass growing right next to it remains green.
Water helps tremendously during these conditions, but there is a limit to what water alone can accomplish.
4. Extra Water Can Increase Lawn Disease Pressure
Here’s where summer lawn care gets a little complicated. Your lawn needs water to remain healthy during hot weather. At the same time, moisture combined with warm temperatures can create favorable conditions for lawn diseases.
Diseases such as dollar spot, leaf spot, brown patch, and summer patch can become active under different combinations of temperature, humidity, moisture, and turf conditions.
This can sometimes lead homeowners to assume their lawn needs even more water because they see brown or thinning grass. If disease is actually causing the discoloration, increasing irrigation may make the environment even more favorable for disease.
This is one reason the timing of irrigation matters. Early morning is generally the best time to water. It allows moisture to reach the soil while giving the grass blades an opportunity to dry as the day begins.
Avoid routinely watering late in the evening when possible. Keeping grass wet for extended periods overnight can increase the amount of time disease organisms have favorable conditions to develop.
5. Your Lawn May Have a Weak or Shallow Root System
Getting water onto the lawn and having a grass plant successfully use that water are two different things. A healthy lawn needs a strong root system that can access moisture in the soil.
Compacted soil, poor soil conditions, excessive thatch, repeated shallow watering, and other stresses can all contribute to shallow rooting.
Imagine two lawns that receive the exact same amount of irrigation. One has a healthy root system extending several inches into the soil. The other has most of its roots concentrated close to the surface.
As the upper layer of soil dries on a hot summer afternoon, the deeper rooted lawn still has access to moisture below the surface. The shallow rooted lawn can begin experiencing stress much sooner.
This is why building a summer resilient lawn actually starts long before summer arrives. Healthy soil, proper fertilization, good mowing practices, aeration when needed, and appropriate watering can all contribute to better root development.
6. Your Irrigation System May Not Be Watering as Evenly as You Think
Just because your sprinklers are running doesn’t mean every part of your lawn is getting enough water. This is extremely common.
Sprinkler heads can become clogged, damaged, tilted, or blocked by plants. Wind can affect spray patterns. Changes to landscaping can interfere with coverage. Some areas may receive water from multiple sprinkler heads while another area barely receives any.
The result can be a lawn that looks like it has a mysterious problem when it is actually an irrigation coverage problem.
One simple way to check your system is to place several small, straight sided containers throughout the lawn and run your irrigation normally. Then compare how much water each container collects. You may be surprised by how much the amount varies from one area to another.
If one particular section consistently turns brown during summer, irrigation coverage should be one of the first things you investigate.
7. Your Mowing Practices May Be Adding More Stress
Watering isn’t the only thing that changes when summer arrives. Your mowing practices may need to change too. During stressful summer conditions, mowing the lawn too short can make it more difficult for the grass to tolerate heat and drought.
Taller grass provides more leaf surface for photosynthesis, helps shade the soil, and generally supports a stronger root system.
Sharp mower blades matter too. A sharp blade makes a clean cut. A dull blade tears and shreds the grass, leaving behind damaged leaf tissue that can make the lawn look brown and stressed.
When summer conditions become difficult, mowing taller and keeping your mower blade sharp are two simple ways to help the lawn.
Watering Is Important, but It Isn’t the Whole Story
If your lawn is turning brown during the summer, asking “Am I watering enough?” is a great place to start. But don’t stop there.
Summer lawn health is the result of water, temperature, sunlight, soil conditions, root health, disease pressure, irrigation coverage, mowing practices, and the types of grass growing in your lawn.
Often there isn’t just one reason a lawn is struggling. Several stresses may be happening at the same time.
At bioLawn, our goal is to build healthier lawns that are better equipped to handle these stressful summer conditions. That means looking beyond whether the grass is simply green today and focusing on things like root growth, lawn density, soil health, and overall plant health.
If you’re watering regularly and your lawn is still struggling, send us some photos or give us a call. Our team can help determine whether you’re dealing with watering issues, heat stress, disease, irrigation problems, or something else and help you determine the best next step.