Maintaining a Lush Lawn Over the Summer? Essential August Lawn Care Tasks You Cannot Afford to Neglect for a Vibrant Yard Throughout the Rest of the Season
Top 7 Late Summer Lawn Care Tasks for a Lush and Healthy Lawn
As the summer heat continues, it's crucial to take care of your lawn to keep it looking lush and healthy. Here are the top seven late summer lawn care tasks to help your lawn thrive through August and into fall:
- Water Weekly and Deeply Water your lawn at least once a week, providing it with at least 1 inch of water. Watering deeply and early in the morning promotes deep root growth and prevents fungal issues.
- Mow Properly Mow your lawn regularly, removing no more than one-third of the grass blade each time. In late summer, keep the grass slightly taller (about 2–3 inches depending on grass type) to reduce stress and shade soil.
- Keep Off the Grass When Hot Limit foot traffic, parking, or placing heavy objects on the turf during the hottest days to avoid further stress and damage to the grass.
- Fertilize Appropriately Apply a final round of fertilizer for warm-season grasses in August to provide nitrogen and potassium before winter. Fertilize cool-season grasses only if needed based on soil testing, but late summer is generally a good time for preliminary feeding before fall fertilization.
- Perform Aeration Core aerate the lawn to relieve soil compaction, improve air and nutrient penetration, and reduce thatch buildup.
- Overseed Thin or Bare Areas Overseed with suitable grass seed to fill in patchy spots and improve turf density, which helps crowd out weeds and strengthens disease resistance. Late summer's warm soil and cooler air support seed germination.
- Monitor for Pests and Diseases Keep an eye on common late-summer lawn pests and fungal diseases enhanced by humidity. Early detection allows timely treatment to prevent damage.
These practices together ensure the lawn remains healthy during the remaining hot summer days and establishes strong growth going into fall.
Additional Tips
- Raking up debris from a lawn can allow grass blades to breathe and prepare for raking leaves in the fall.
- A lush and healthy lawn can last from August through fall with proper late summer lawn care.
- The best time to water grass is in the early morning to allow the grass blades to dry before nightfall.
- Using a summer-specific lawn fertilizer can help protect against heat, drought, and summer pests. The Scotts fertilizer from Amazon is specifically formulated to help protect against heat and drought as well as certain summer pests.
- Proper late summer lawn care can restore a lawn that looks brown back to a lush and vibrant state.
- Mowing the lawn in the early morning or late afternoon is recommended.
- Fall is the ideal time to aerate cool season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass or tall fescue.
- Adult chinch bugs are black and white, while young ones have red markings. Lawns require weekly watering of at least an inch during summer to stay green or recover from heat stress.
- An organic summer lawn fertilizer from Espoma on Amazon can revitalize an August lawn.
- An aerator tool like this one from Amazon can be used for self-aeration, or a specialist can provide a more extensive plug aeration.
Install stepping stones or a DIY garden path to protect the lawn from frequent foot traffic, and use a durable, lightweight rake like this adjustable rake from Amazon to make raking easier. By following these tips, you'll have a beautiful lawn all season long!
A lush and healthy lawn can be extended from August through fall with additional home-and-garden practices such as raking up debris and installing garden paths to avoid direct impact on the grass. Regular gardening activities like watering grass early in the morning, using summer-specific lawn fertilizers, and aerating the lawn organically can help improve the lawn's health and vitality.
