Lawns need extra care in summer heat

MOSES LAKE — It’s summer. And that means it’s hot out there.

That means your lawn needs a little extra care and attention. Especially if you want to keep it green.

According to Bob Tatum, president of Tatum Lawn Care, a yard needs a consistent watering in the summertime in order to stay green and healthy, with the best time to water very early in the morning, in the hours just before and just after sunrise.

“Really the best time of the day to water would be about 4 in the morning, shut it off by 9 if you have a sprinkler system,” Tatum said.

“And deep watering is better than frequent watering, so you don’t really want to water it morning, noon and night, you want to water it a good dose in the morning,” he said. “And if you can let it go, let it go. Water it every other day if you can.”

Tatum, who has been caring for lawns of all sizes in and around Moses Lake for the last 30 years, said newly laid sod needs to be watered several times a day as it roots itself, or else it won’t make it through the Columbia Basin’s hot summers.

“You have to do frequent waterings until that thing roots. In the fall, it’s a little more forgiving. But you’re doing it in 100 degree weather, you water it once a day and that’s it, you’re going to be in trouble,” he said. “It won’t die off, it will get brown.”

Wendell White, the owner and operator of Willow Trailers Village along Road M SE, just south of Basic American Foods, has around six acres of grass to water and mow.

He waters some portion of the park’s expansive yard every day.

“You do have to water more in the summer time, it gets 108 degrees and drinks all the water,” White said. “Got puddles over there, in 15 minutes it’s all gone because this is a real sandy area over here.”

White said he mows all of his grass every three days. Otherwise, his lawnmower has to work too hard to cut it.

“Best to cut every three days, it’s tall enough to do so,” he said.

White said that allows him to mulch — use the clippings to fertilize the grass — much more easily. Short mulch withers quickly in the hot weather, doesn’t sit atop the grass very long, and doesn’t get too thick.

“Mulching is fine, just don’t cut off too much,” Tatum said. “The idea for mulching would be if you can cut it and the blades aren’t laying all over the place. Then you’re good, you won’t build up much thatch at all.”

Late summer is also a time you can see weeds come in your lawn, Tatum said, with the primary culprits being spurge, oxalis, purslane, dandelions and clover. September is a good time for another major weed treatment, in preparation both for winter and early spring, when those weeds will want to come back to life again.

White said he treats his yard with a specialized weed killer in the late summer and a turf builder in the fall. He said he also tries hard to control the clover because otherwise, it will “take over.”

“When grass is thick, the weeds can’t grow in it,” he said. “I’m trying to get a thick, green lawn with no weeds and no clover. That’s what I’m trying to do here.”

“Because,” White added, echoing the thoughts of probably every lawn owner in North America, “appearance is very important.”