An organic lawn will naturally go dormant during the summer, especially if no water falls on it during a drought. Brown lawns are everywhere right now! Is it dead, you may wonder.
No, it’s not dead, just taking a rest. It takes energy, particularly water and air, to stay green. To save itself, blades of grass turn brown in the heat. When cooler fall temperatures return, the grass will gradually green up again.
Here are some tips to help your lawn regenerate:
- Do not mow now if browned out and dormant
- Plan on a late summer/early fall seeding plus fertilization to help the lawn recover
- Mow high in fall, at 3” and leave the clippings as a natural fertilizer
Now is the time to plan your late summer lawn renovation. If you were thinking last spring that you’d like to improve your lawn, the time is almost here to do this type of work. Please contact Tyler Ewen, our Organic Lawn Care Manager, to arrange an analysis of your lawn and to move forward with a plan for its fall organic care.
Lawn grasses prefer cool weather to put down good root systems. So we work with natural cycles and wait until late August/early September to begin core aerating, topdressing, overseeding and fertilizing. We aim to finish this type of work by September 30 so that the new grass seed can get established before leaves fall and temperatures drop in October.
