AUGUST

August is another month where your lawn should be flourishing and any hard work during the earlier months of the year have really shown their benefit. You will still need to keep a close eye on the amount of rainfall on your lawn and keep this topped up, if needed.

As we get to the end of the month, it is always a good plan to look ahead to autumn and get started early on some of the work that will stand your lawn in good stead over the winter.

Mowing

You should now have your lawn at its summer length, so it will be around the shortest that you will cut. In August, you should be looking to have your lawn about 1 to 1.5 inches in height, however, if the lawn is not seeing much water, it is always a good plan to keep it half an inch longer to protect it. As always, stick to the golden rule and never take off ⅓ of the height of the grass. 

Throughout August, your lawn shall be growing quickly as we have warmer temperatures. Because of this, you will want to look at mowing your lawn every 4-7 days. 

Edging

Make sure you keep on top of the edges of your lawn. You will want to edge the lawn every 2 or 3 times that you mow it, so you will be wanting to edge your lawn a couple of times during the month. 

Watering

Rainfall in August can be infrequent, so you shall need to pay close attention to the lawn and supplement any rainfall with watering when we experience dry spells. As the weather starts to hot up, it shall need more water to keep it green and lush. 

When watering, the key is to water heavily and infrequently - this shall create a lawn that is hardy and helps develop a strong root system that can withstand drought periods. 

Fertilise

During the summer months, getting a slow release, granular fertiliser onto your lawn is important. This will get that deep green colour and help establish a strong root system which will keep your lawn healthy during the drier periods. 

Bear in mind that a lawn feed does need plenty of water after it has been applied, so you will need to either wait for a rainy period or water your lawn. If you haven’t already, now would be a great time to buy a sprinkler.

Iron Sulphate

Iron Sulphate can be used to remove moss and you may want to look at using this near to the end of the month. If you can minimise the amount of moss within your lawn during the late summer and autumn, this will help the appearance of your lawn for the following year

If you do apply iron sulphate, make sure you either rake or scarify this afterwards to fully remove it.

Weed Control

By August, any major weed issues should hopefully have been resolved and it is normally just a case of keeping on top of any weeds that pop up. Weeds will grow quickly during this time of year, so getting them early is always a good idea.

You can look into getting a lawn weed killer or removing with hand tools. 

Raking/Scarifying

As we get to the end of August, you may want to look at scarifying or raking your lawn. This should only be done when the temperatures are starting to cool off and the weather is dry, so it is best to leave this until the end of the month. 

This can be very useful to remove any thatch, dead material or moss from your lawn before the end of the year. You can then overseed and ensure that you have a thick and healthy lawn for the winter, which shall prevent weeds and moss forming.