By 
Warmer weather is here, and pretty soon, the country will be experiencing the scorching heat of the summer season. Because of this, strategic lawn care, Cincinnati, Ohio lawn and garden professionals say, is a must.
Typically, pests start coming around when the weather becomes hot and dry, or hot and humid. Likewise, turf and other plants get parched and wither rather quickly.
So, if you wish to maintain a green and healthy-looking lawn that your family can use for recreation in the summer, here are five lawn care tips to implement for the hottest season of the year:
1. Banish weeds
When the grass and other plants in your lawn or garden are struggling due to the intense heat of summer, the last thing you want is for weeds to share in the nutrients you feed everything that keeps your outdoor space alive.
What to do: Pull out weeds when you see them. Keep an eye out for weeds every time you take a walk around your lawn or garden and pull them out by hand right away. Another thing that you can do is purchase or mix up your own weed killers. Spend a cool afternoon spraying these weed killers directly onto the pesky growth.
If you are looking for an affordable weed killer, lawn care specialists advise using white vinegar. The acetic acid can burn everything— from crabgrass to dandelions. Plus, vinegar can lower the pH level of the soil, thereby discouraging the proliferation of weeds.
2. Cut grass high
Trimming your turf is still a must, but in the summer, you do not have to do it as often. Letting your grass grow tall and cutting them high when the weather is hot is more beneficial for your lawn.
What to do: Adjust the cut setting of your lawn mower and make sure that you do not cut your grass shorter than three inches. This height is ideal in preventing heat stress for grass.
Taller grass also does not require much fertilization and water. Thus, you can relax a bit on the most physically demanding aspects of lawn care and avoid staying under the hot sun.
3. Adjust your lawn watering hours
According to lawn care experts in Cincinnati, the best times to water your lawn during the summer are when it’s no longer too hot. This may seem counterproductive because, wouldn’t plants be refreshed when watered during the hottest hours of the day?
The problem with watering plants when the sun is blazing hot is water evaporates too quickly. Plants get very little hydration in the end.
What to do: Time your watering anywhere between 4 AM and 8 AM, and again from 6 PM to 8 PM. Also, water deeply. Soak the lawn thoroughly as this will encourage roots to grow much deeper into the ground where moisture remains present even when the surface is already dry and cracked.
4. Hire the pros for pest control
Different garden pests start appearing in the spring and linger around until the summer. These creepy crawlers and fliers know that property owners water and spread compost to keep grass and plants alive, which make lawns a great source of sustenance.
What to do: To make pest control as effective as possible, turn to the pros. They use the right products to banish garden pests, making sure that killing off the crawlers and fliers will not affect the health of the grass and other plants.
But, you can also control pests yourself. Just use the solutions pros advise or recommend such as diatomaceous earth and other organic pest control products.
5. Prevent fungal growth
Certain fungi come alive in the summer, and they tend to grow on edibles, special plants and grass species. They can kill plants in just a short span of time, so if you see fuzzy, spongy patches on the blades of grass and leaves of plants, you have a fungi problem in your lawn.
What to do: The best thing to do is to hire the services of lawn care experts. They have the best solutions to kill off and prevent fungi.
You may also try using milk, which is a known fungicide or a mixture of dish soap, garlic, and mineral oil.
So, there you have it, five of the best summer lawn care tips from the experts. Implement all these, and you can be sure that your lawn will thrive even during the hottest season of the year.
