Forum home Tools and techniques
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

lawn in this hot weather

we are watering like mad but there are still dry browning patches. are we fighting a losing battle? our garden is a little suntrap and I think the soil under the lawn is pretty shallow and rubbish

we didnt choose the seedmix to be drought tolerant 

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,138

    Is this a new lawn?


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • jackthecatjackthecat Posts: 29

    it's a year old. we moved into this house May 2012 and the back garden was concrete 10cm thick. busted it up with a roadbreaker, hauled away the rubble, put down a couple of tons of topsoil then laid turf. 

    we only put down enough topsoil to replace the concrete, depthwise. couldnt afford more. underneath was not great soil. not builders rubble though.

    we've overseeded a couple of times where sparse patches have appeared

    the lawn gets a lot of sun

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,138

    I wouldn't worry too much - lawns are by their nature drought tolerant - the grass looks brown in dry weather, then a day's rain and it's emerald green again. Don't cut it much if at all - it's always best to leave it longish in hot weather. 

    Don't water too much - I know that sounds mad, but the grass doesn't actually grow much in this heat, and you can end up with a soggy lawn which may be prone to fungal/bacterial goings on in very warm weather. 

    I'm sure it'll be ok image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    I agree with dove. It will go brown in very hot weather. It will be worse if you cut it too short.  As soon as it rains again,it will green up.   Enjoy the sunshine, don't worry about it.image

  • jackthecatjackthecat Posts: 29

    so I can't have a beautiful green lawn in summer?! 

    but ive seen nice lawns in hot weather...

    thanks for the advice though

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,138

    You can have a green lawn http://www.sharon-flowers.com/landscping/irrigation-water-management.php but is it worth the damage to your pocket and the environment?

    Your grass will be green again when it rains - that's Nature, and it's far better to work with Nature than against it - that only leeds to frustration, disappointment and stress image

     


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • donutsmrsdonutsmrs Posts: 487

    I never water the lawn, I feel it is such a waste of water. I always leave the grass a little longer so that it doesn't  dry out so quickly.  You see sprinklers going in a lot of gardens but a sprinkler can use as much water in an hour that a family of four will use in a day. It will soon go green once it starts raining.

  • jackthecatjackthecat Posts: 29

    humph. I guess

    i save my 'grey water' (thanks Ecover) for the garden

  • I think it is useless to water the lawn when it's still hot and sun is shining. Water after sunset.

  • LeadFarmerLeadFarmer Posts: 1,496

    If you do want to water your lawn to keep it green then water at night. But lawns are tough and can cope better with hot sunny days than you might think. 

Sign In or Register to comment.