Summer Lawn Care

Hot, dry conditions are always a challenge especially for lawns, so the Phactor is here to provide the advice you need.  The basic principles of ecological lawn care must apply.  So please understand the following.  Lawn grasses go dormant under hot dry conditions, so to deal with this you must do nothing.  Yes, that's right, do nothing.  On my commute to work this AM a fellow was doing it completely backwards, the lawn was being watered and stressed young trees were being ignored.  Wrong, wrong, wrong, and to compound the error this fellow will have be out there mowing his lawn in 103 F temperatures.  On the other hand if you have planted any trees or shrubs within the past 12-15 months, water, water, water them.  If no amount of water seems to help, then in all liklihood the root ball was not properly spread at the time of planting (Yes, you've been instructed about that too.), so now you will pay the price, and if it makes you feel any better the Phactor learned this lesson the hard way.  Hot, dry conditions provide the proving ground for proper planting, although at times there's just nothing you can do.  Three Japanese yews were planted in different locations; two are doing fine, and the third is showing severe stress and may not survive and who knows why.  At any rate, when you hear that comforting crunch under foot you know you are treating your lawn correctly.