One of the biggest complaints I get from customers in the summer is “my lawn is all brown and dead.”

Now, I have to be honest, there are probably at least a million reasons why your lawn will turn brown during the summer and about half of them are your fault as the homeowner! Don’t get angry, just read on and learn a little something.

The main reason I see lawns turning brown in the summer is because of lack of water. I have talked a whole lot about how to water your lawn over the years and I need to talk about it again. Your grass needs proper irrigation during the hot and dry summer months or it will go brown and dormant.

What Is Proper Irrigation?

When you water, you need to water deeply and consistently. So many people I meet really water a whole lot, but they don’t leave the sprinkler out long enough, so the water just evaporates away.

I always recommend watering in the morning at least every other day. If your lawn is already brown and dormant, you can bring it back, but you need to keep it that way. It is not healthy for the lawn to be allowed to go in and out of summer dormancy.

If you are watering, and your lawn is still brown, then proceed onto the next article and see if that will help you.

July is the time when I start to monitor my customers’ lawns for grub worms and I figured I’d warn you guys too! Here are the basics on grubs and how to treat for them this summer.

First off, grub worms are the larvae of the Japanese beetle, also known as the June Bug. June bugs zip and zing around lawns and landscapes during the early part of the summer and chew on trees and shrubs. This is bad, but what they do in later August is even worse.

The June bugs also spend time mating and laying eggs in well watered lawns like yours and mine. These eggs hatch into grubs worms and feed on grass roots until November or so. This is where the damage to the lawn comes in, and this is why we need to stop these guys.

The best defense against grub worm infestation is to lay down a preventative insecticide that works systemically. That means the product is taken into the grass plants and stays there for a few months to protect from the inside out.

Most of the grub treatment products you get in the store work this way using a brand product called “Merit.”

I recommend you guys get out this weekend and treat your lawns for grubs and get the product watered into the soil immediately. This way you’ll be covered against damage all season long.

In the next article, I will be talking about the damage the June bugs do to your trees and shrubs and how you can stop them there as well!