Looking after the lawn in summer can be tricky. The weather plays a huge part in the condition of the lawn, but it is also the time of year that turf gets the most wear and tear as we tend to spend much more time in the garden. Thankfully, grass is a resilient plant and will bounce back, you’ll notice a difference after a few good showers of rain and a little bit of care and attention. Here are some of our top tips for summer lawn care and a series of mower recommendations that will help keep lawns strong and healthy, whatever sized plot you have.
Watering lawns in summer
Once soil temperatures reach 25℃ or more, this will cause heat stress to lawns, this is the point where it starts to change from a lush green shade to a yellow/brown colour. Like the plants in your garden, the best time to water in hot weather is early in the morning or early evening. Watering during these times will ensure that the water has a chance to reach the roots before it gets too hot. There’s no need to do this daily; two or three times a week will be enough. Watering a lawn during the hottest part of the day will scorch the blades, and the water will evaporate before it has a chance to reach the roots.
Cutting grass in hot weather
The great thing about having a natural lawn is that it will stay cool enough to walk on during those very hot days as opposed to artificial turf, but depending on growth, you will need to mow it. Should you cut the lawn in hot weather? If your lawn is completely scorched in places, it is best to leave it to bounce back and reframe from mowing. If it remains mainly green, then little and often is the key to cutting grass in hot weather, which is generally between the months of June and August. You can keep the lawn shorter in summer and set your mower to a cutting height of up to 25mm.
Leaving grass clippings on the lawn during hot weather
Whether you spread your grass clippings by hand or use a mulch mower to do the hard work, you will be doing your lawn a huge favour. Mulching provides so many benefits; firstly it is a great natural fertiliser., providing a nitrogen boost plus other nutrients to your lawn. Mulch mowers will cut the grass finely and reintroduce it to the lawn optimising its health and keeping it moist thanks to the high water content of the grass clippings. If you don’t have a mulch mower, you could re-mow your collected grass clippings to make them smaller and scatter them around the lawn by hand.
Three mulch mowers for gardens of all types
To help you mow through summer and the rest of the seasons, we’ve selected three types of Yard Force mulch mowers that are suitable for small, medium and large lawns.
Mulch mowers for compact spaces
If you have a small lawn area, an allotment or veg growing space with lawn in between, this mower is ideal. The iFlex is a 2-in-1 lawnmower/trimmer. It is a lightweight and compact mulch mower with a unique multi-rotating 180° full control handle and a Free-Turn universal wheel which provide complete freedom allowing you to mow in any direction and tackle those hard-to-reach lawn edges using just one hand.
In a few clicks you can remove the mower head and replace it with the pivot grass trimmer head, which has an adjustable cutting angle to five positions allowing you to trim the edges of lawns against fences, walls and raised beds with ease. The 12V 4.0AH lithium-ion battery provides around 50 minutes of mowing and trimming power.
Medium sized lawns
A robotic mower like the Compact 300RBS is a great choice for medium lawns (up to 300m2) or for anyone who is looking for convenience, as it provides fully automated lawncare at the touch of a button. It is easy to install, controlled via a handy app, and it will automatically recharge itself back at its hub. This mulch mower has three heights of cut, built-in sensors to avoid obstacles and can tackle inclines of up to 30%.
Large lawns
The 40V 46cm Cordless Lawnmower is our highest-performing cordless option; it has the power and efficiency to tackle lawns of up to 750m2 with ease and even has a boost function to help you tackle thick grass. Premium features include the choice to collect grass clippings, mulch, or use the side discharge. It is also self-propelled, so needs minimum pushing force. It has seven heights of cut and folds away neatly into sheds and garages.
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