Summer is the perfect time for your landscaping to shine—but scorching temperatures, pests, and weeks without rain can put your plants to the test. Are you struggling to achieve the lush, green grass and vibrant flowers you’ve dreamed about? Here are a few tips for transforming your summer landscaping and keeping it healthy.
5 Tips To Prepare Your Landscape for Summer
There’s more to summer landscaping than the occasional mowing and watering. Here are five tips that will prepare your grass and plants for the biggest summer challenges and help you maintain your landscaping during the season’s hottest weeks.
Don’t Forget To Water
Your plants need the summer sun to grow, but those rays can also leave your landscaping parched. A little bit of water once a day, especially on dry and hot days, won’t do much to keep your plants green. You need a regular watering schedule to keep your summer landscaping from drying out, but be sure to check for any drought restrictions before turning the sprinklers on. You may not be able to water your grass regularly if your city or state is experiencing drought conditions.
It’s best to water your lawn, flowers, shrubs, and young trees in the early morning or evening when the sun and heat aren’t at their peak. Be sure to water slowly and regularly. Saturate the ground around the root area and drip line (the approximate circle where your plants would drip water if it rained) until the water soaks deeply into the soil, reaching the roots. Too little water and your plants can dry out. If you drown your plants in water, their roots can rot and affect the appearance of flowers and foliage.
Irrigation systems are an excellent way to keep your grass hydrated without getting the hose out several times a week, but pay attention to your system’s water output and coverage. If water runs off your grass and into the parking lot, you’re overwatering.
Pick the Right Landscape Materials
Preparing your summer landscaping starts in the early spring. Cool temperatures are ideal for planting trees and shrubs, making late spring the perfect time to plant perennials, beds, and bulbs. Once summer hits, it’s best not to plant anything new, but you can protect your existing shrubs, trees, and flowers with mulch.
A thin layer of mulch can help you:
- Retain moisture
- Prevent nutrient deficiency
- Keep soil cooler on hot days
- Protect your plant roots from the hot sun
- Stop weeds from growing
- Keep soil from eroding
However, mulch can also cause rotting bark if you place it too close to trees and shrubs, so stay a few inches away from the base of your woody plants.
Set Up a Mowing Schedule
Mowing your grass doesn’t just make it look better; it also helps keep your grass healthy and thick. In the hottest weeks of summer, you should mow around once a week, depending on the type of grass you have and how quickly it grows. Don’t cut it too short, though—taller grass is better at withstanding heat and pulling moisture from the soil.
Use Landscape Fertilizers and Pesticides Wisely
If your grass isn’t growing as thick and tall as you want it to, you might be tempted to cover it in fertilizer. But when fertilizer is applied incorrectly, it can lead to weeds and weak spots. Depending on your grass, you should use fertilizer sparingly and follow the recommended usage guidelines. You should fertilize cool-season grasses in the spring and fall when temperatures aren’t at their peak. Warm-season grasses can handle fertilization in summer, but you should avoid fertilizer altogether in high temperatures.
There are many different types of fertilizer on the market that give your plants essential nutrients, including:
- Organic fertilizers
- Inorganic fertilizers
- Liquid fertilizers
- Granular fertilizers
- Complete fertilizers, which contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
If you’re unsure which one you need, you can perform a soil test to see what nutrients your soil is missing. An experienced landscaping company can also help you determine what your grass, trees, and plants need to grow tall.
If pests, weeds, and animals are harming your plants and causing brown spots in your grass, you may want to consider using pesticides. However, just like fertilizer, pesticides can harm your plants when used in the hottest parts of summer. Once it’s hotter than the maximum temperature listed on your pesticide, it can become dangerous to you and your summer landscaping. Consult a professional if you’re having pest issues in hot weather.
Want healthier plants but don’t want to hurt the environment? Varsity only uses the safest fertilizers and pesticides, so you can achieve your goals without sacrificing sustainability.
Tend to Your Trees and Plants
As your trees, shrubs, and plants grow tall this summer, it’s important to keep them neat and trimmed, especially if your outdoor space contains high-traffic areas. If you notice branches that people could run into or trip over, cut them immediately. When pruning trees and shrubs for aesthetic reasons, start with dead or broken branches first.
Need a Professional’s Help? Turn to Varsity, Inc. for Affordable Landscaping Services
Keeping your summer landscaping green and healthy isn’t easy, especially in the sweltering heat. If you have too much going on inside your commercial building to focus on the plants, trees, and shrubs outside, Varsity, Inc. can help.
For over 45 years, our team has been helping commercial clients create and maintain beautiful summer landscaping. From lawn cutting and pruning to applying fertilizer and pesticides, we do everything your commercial landscaping needs to stay beautiful and healthy all summer long. Plus, we can help you prepare your landscape materials for fall and winter with professional cleanup services once the hottest days are behind us.
Get in touch with our team today to learn how we can improve your summer landscaping.
Varsity Inc. has been providing a full range of landscape related services to the Northeast commercial and industrial markets since 1974.
