Spring isn’t just for baseball training, it’s also the lawn training season. During the months of April and May is the time to get your lawn ready for a hot summer, with possible drought conditions, by training the roots of your lawn.

The roots of your grass are the heart and brain for your lawn. They signal the blades and stems when to grow, go in and out of dormancy, turn colors, and even die. So, how do you train your grass not to die during hot summer weather? You train by making the roots grow deeper.

How do grass roots grow deeper into the soil?

A lot of preparation goes into this process. From aerating to waiting on the proper weather. It takes time, patience, and hard work from you and your lawn.

  1. Fall is the ideal time to aerate. But, should you have missed aerating in the fall, it’s not too late. You can still aerate in early spring. Preferably right before it rains. This allows the soil to loosen, breathe easier, and take in nutrients it needs to thrive.
  2. Early spring pre-emergent. Apply a pre-emergent as your lawn is coming out of dormancy. This will help any spring weeds from germinating and taking over weak areas throughout your lawn that the winter may have caused. Let Mother Nature water in.
  3. This feeds the soil which in turn feeds your grass. Let Mother Nature water in.
  4. Once grass has come out of winter dormancy and growth has begun, keeping lawn between 3-3.5” will help keep lawn full and thick. This will also allow the roots to stay cool and moist as temperatures begin to heat up.
  5. Water, or lack of, is key in training roots to grow deeper. Roots need water to survive but depriving them for a time, trains it to search deeper for moisture. Thus, growing further into the soil.

If lack of watering is important, when should you water?

April showers bring May flowers. Or in this case, bring deep rooted grass. Allowing only the rain to water your lawn in the spring can help not only your water bill but the roots of the grass.

Similar to a child learning to walk, if you carried them everywhere they wouldn’t learn to walk and would be dependent on you. Now, if you put them down, they would eventually learn to crawl then walk. Resulting in not relying on you to grow and thrive. Now, for your lawn, if you were to water your lawn as “recommended” for your grass type, the roots may be very shallow into the soil and it would depend on you for water. But, should you make it work for it, it’s going to grow and thrive.

Only allowing the rain to water isn’t consistent enough for the roots so it isn’t dependent on it. But, should your area not have a healthy rainy spring, watering 1-2” deep every 21 days can act like rain for your lawn.

Also, maintaining a scheduled lawn maintenance routine of fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide will keep your lawn healthy. Giving it the nutrients it needs while eliminating weeds and insects from taking over and damaging your lawn, allows the grass to continue training.

Should you find yourself leaving footprints after walking on your lawn or areas turning brown, the rain isn’t sufficient at that time and the grass needs watering.

Now that your grass has been in training for summer, what now?

It’s time now to let your lawn weather the heat. Because the roots are now deeper within the soil, it can stay green and out of a summer dormancy longer along with avoiding drought stress. This is because it is getting the moisture it needs further down in the soil. Still keep your lawn at a 3-3.5” height throughout the summer. This keeps the soil cool and won’t dry out as fast especially in 90 degree and higher temperatures.

In some cases, it may take a couple lawn seasons to get your roots deep enough. Contact Safe Earth Pest Control and let us help you train your lawn. Residential and commercial pest control is always available! 214-321-2847