5 Tips for Protecting Your Lawn from Guests & Pets in Hot Weather

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Warm temperature during the summer usually triggers fun ideas. Travelling gets more fun during the warm weather, but so does staying at home. You can play with your pets or classmates behind your fences, do backyard barbecues with your neighbors, and have pool parties. During the summer, it’s so easy to have fun on your own lawn.

Unfortunately, summer also brings about some serious dangers to your lawn. When guests and pets are trampling all over your yard, the grass easily turns brown and compact. This can be aggravated by excessive hot weather. There are definitely some long term solutions to this issue, and we’ve compiled them in a phenomenal list to help protect your lawn for years to come.

Train your pets

Let’s be honest here. We all love our dogs, but their pee isn’t too great for your grass. And when combined with nitrogen, it can have the same effects as a nitrogen-rich liquid fertilizer. This can be OK in small does, but in the summer heat and in excess, this can be very dangerous to your lawn.

Keeping this in mind, one of the best ways to avoid damaging your lawn is to effectively train your pets. Have your dogs pee in a specific place in order to save the other areas in your lawn. While you’re training your pets, teach them to go to the back of the yard to urinate. You’ll have to leash walk them out there the first few days of training while they learn their commands.

Another interesting technique that I recently found effective: Add a little bit of tomato juice to your dog food to increase your pet’s salt intake. This will lead to them drinking more water, which leads to them staying hydrated in the hot weather, resulting in lower acidity in their urine. But remember, if you’re making a significant dietary modification technique to your pet, then it’s always best to consult a professional.

Use the right weed killers

Weed killers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are incredibly strong, and some not so much. Nevertheless, it’s very important to know what type of grass you have and what type of weed killer will work best on it before investing in something that might actually end up killing your lawn. This resource on the best weed killers will give you a very good understanding of everything you need to find the right product for the job.

Prepare for a lawn battle

You’re going to have to be very consistent with your lawn maintenance to keep your grass in terrific shape. Giving your lawns a thorough going-over and doing regular irrigation WILL enable it to be healthier and more tolerant.

At the same time, grass is incredibly resilient. Don’t overdo it and put annoying restrictions on your family members. Grass will ultimately survive as long as you take good care of it before and after the party.

Beat the heat

Feed your grasses regularly. If a lawn is well-fed, it can handle the heat since it grows in thick, crowds out weeds and cools the soil. Remember that longer grasses allows the growth of longer roots. This allows the grass to reach down for moisture even on hot, dry days.

However, longer grasses need moisture, so you’ll have to water it more frequently. A good rule of thumb for keeping your lawn green during the hot summer is an inch of water a week.

When you see bare spots and thin areas around your lawn, this is where you want to start reseeding. If the heat remains post summer, you can look specifically for grass varieties that can handle the scorching heat and still look good, such as tall fescue mixes.

Ask for professional help

Given that taking good care of lawn is no picnic, it’s common to have some confusions and doubts. It’s like taking care children. You need to dedicate significant amounts of time, and it’s not easy to understand what happened to them and what they want.

It’s even worse if you don’t have a natural inclination towards being a green thumb. If you have the budget, then you may consider hiring professional help from lawn care services. If you do, make sure to hire someone with good reviews, else your lawn may quickly be ruined.

Takeaway

Maintaining a healthy lawn requires significant amount of patience, effort, time, and money. The first step is to educate ourselves, and the second is to take consistent action. Follow these two steps and you’re going to have an incredible lawn in your backyard for years to come.

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