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Heat waves, especially in summer, not only affect us humans. The garden also suffers from the heat and the drought that often accompanies it. And before you know it, the lawn is burned or dried up. But this is no reason to give up the lawn, because the grass can be saved with a pampering program.
damage picture
Damage and causes
The main cause of dried up or burnt lawns is often a longer one hot spell without thunderstorms or rain, because the grass then suffers lack of water and dries up. If the grass has turned yellow or brown, the drying out is already far advanced. Therefore, you should pay attention to the first warning signs of the lawn.
These are:
- curled grass tips
- bluish discoloration of the blades of grass
- long visibility of footsteps on the lawn
You should also check the edges of the lawn regularly. The first yellow spots often appear on the border to house walls, walls or the terrace. But not just the summer one heat messes with the lawn. Also care mistakes can lead to yellow or straw-colored spots.
dried up lawn
The most common maintenance mistakes are:
- wrong watering
- Mowing the lawn at lunchtime
causes
Incorrect watering
If the summer rains, the grass gets too much water and turns yellow. However, this also occurs if the lawn is incorrectly watered during a hot period, i.e. too much artificially water receives. The rule here is to water less frequently, but more penetratingly. The rule of thumb during hot periods is: Sprinkle the lawn with around 15 to 20 liters of water per square meter once or twice a week.
Tip: A water meter or rain gauge will help you control the amount of water.
cut the lawn
Mowing the lawn at lunchtime
Mowing the lawn on a hot day at midday in the blazing sunshine is not only a great effort for humans. The blades of grass also have a hard time with this, because when mowing the stalk is cut off, which means an injury for the plant that it has to heal. If you now mow under the blazing sun, the stalk has no chance to seal the cut, since the sun's rays dry out the wound or the stalk immediately. The result is brown blades of grass or brown tips.
Our advice: It is best to mow in the morning or evening, when the sun has not yet risen or has already set. This gives the lawn time to seal the cuts.
Mowing the lawn with a lawn mower
relief measures
Lawn Help
Blades of grass that have dried up or burned remain dried up or burned. The aim of rescuing the lawn is to ensure that new, fresh, green blades of grass grow back. That's why the grass needs a special one maintenanceso that it can recover. This does not require much effort, but some patience. So you should give the weed two to three weeks to recover before taking any drastic action.
Water
Water helps against water shortages. However, it only helps if it is given in the right amount. Artificial heavy rain does not benefit the grass, even if it has dried up or burned. It is important that the water penetrates deep into the soil so that the roots can absorb the cool water well. One is ideal water penetration of the ground of at least 20 centimeters.
Tip: The best way to check how many liters you actually need per square meter is to dig out a small piece of lawn after watering. So you can see how deep the water has penetrated into the ground.
What time of day you blast the lawn is debatable. In order to keep the water consumption within limits, the morning or the evening is certainly the best time of the day. However, nothing speaks against one irrigation at lunchtime. It does not harm the grass per se, but a lot of water evaporates when blasting, which leads to increased costs.
lawn sprinkler
Fertilize
Water is one part of the pampering regimen, nutrient delivery is another. Because a dry soil the grass almost no nutrient offers, you should definitely fertilize it.
Tip: Ask your specialist dealer which fertilizer is best if your lawn has dried up or burned, because not every fertilizer is suitable for this case.
As with the watering, the right fertilizer must also be used dosage be respected. Because "too much" is also the wrong way here. If the soil is overfertilized, even if you mean well, the grass cannot recover. And no fresh stalks grow back either. Also, with some strains, over-fertilizing the soil can cause the grass to burn. To avoid over-fertilizing the soil, follow the instructions on the fertilizer package exactly.
Tip: So that fertilizing really helps, i.e. the fertilizer gets into the soil, you should water the lawn after fertilizing or fertilize before watering.
radical measures
If no new green can be seen on the lawn after two to three weeks after fertilizing and watering, radical measures can be taken to make it green again.
overseeding
Reseeding is recommended if the lawn is only partially burned. It not only closes the dried up areas, but also serves to keep the spread of weeds as low as possible.
Distribute seed evenly when sowing the lawn
verticulate
When scarifying, the dead plants are removed from the soil. If there is still old grass on the area, this is first cut off at the lowest level of the lawnmower and disposed of in the compost.
When actually verticulating, proceed as follows:
- Set scarifier as deep as possible
- Pull panels lengthwise and crosswise several times
If the lawn looks like a field, you can stop scarifying. Then proceed as follows.
- Distribute starter fertilizer and lawn mixture evenly over the area
- possibly press the seeds into the ground with wooden boards strapped to their feet
- Cover the area with peat (maximum one centimeter)
Water
Since the seedlings do not develop roots in the first month, they must be supplied with water every day. After that, you can reduce the water supply, since the young blades of grass can now take care of themselves through their roots.
Tip: After using the starter fertiliser, you should not fertilize the lawn immediately, otherwise the "burned" problem will arise again.
Prevent
preventive measures
In addition to proper watering, there are preventative measures you can take to keep your lawn from drying out in the first place.
Lawn in the garden area
grow lawn
You can "train" the grass so that it can withstand a heat or drought period. This means that the culms form long roots. With long roots, the plants reach deeper soil layers, which supply them with water for longer.
Tip: If the lawn is watered too often, even daily, with little water, the roots will remain flat and the lawn will dry out quickly in heat or drought.
cutting length
Keeping the lawn short is important for many hobby gardeners. However, a grass that is cut too short suffers greatly from the sun's rays in summer. Therefore, it should not be cut below five centimeters in the summer months.
grass mixtures
In regions where summer rain is generally scarce, drought-tolerant grass mixtures help to avert the greatest damage.