Seasonal · Houston
Best summer lawncare practices for Houston, Texas
Summer in Houston is heat and humidity. Turf that makes it is mowed high, watered deep, and sitting on soil that can hold moisture.
Mow high, with a sharp blade
A dull blade tears grass and opens it to disease. Sharpen or replace the blade at least once a season, and keep the mower clean.
Set the deck as high as the mower will go. More leaf left standing means more photosynthesis, which makes for healthier grass and lets the root system go deeper. Taller grass also shades the soil and cuts evaporation, which matters most in July and August.
Water deep and infrequent
Most Houston lawns want about 1 to 1.5 inches of water a week, including rain. Water early in the morning to cut evaporation and fungal pressure.
A screwdriver test: if it pushes into the soil easily, you have moisture. If it will not, the soil is dry or compacted. That beats watering on a fixed schedule, which on clay usually means watering when the soil is already wet.
Mulch the beds
A 2 to 4 inch layer of Aged Native Mulch or Cedar Mulch in beds and around trees holds soil moisture and keeps roots cooler. It can come up close to a stem or a trunk but never over it, and never over exposed roots.
Soil, fertilizer, topdress, level
Houston clay compacts. A soil conditioner (Medina Soil Activator is one product used locally) can help structure and biology. Follow the label.
Summer fertilizer should be slow-release, which releases nitrogen over weeks instead of days and avoids pushing soft growth into July heat. MicroLife Multi-Purpose 6-2-4 is a slow-release organic used on Houston turf. Do not over-apply, and do not fertilize at all in the worst of the heat. Read the bag.
Topdress with a thin layer of Casco Compost to add organic matter. For low spots, holes, and uneven patches, use Lawn Mix, which is loamy sand, Casco Compost and humus, and adds structure. Compost adds organic matter and nutrition. Lawn Mix adds material you can level with. Most lawns that need leveling need both.
Weeds and compaction
Hand-pull what you can. Mulch blocks light to weed seed.
Aeration (pulling plugs) is typically a fall job. If a lawn is badly compacted in summer, it can still help air and water move.
One cubic yard of mulch covers about 100 square feet of bed at 3 inches deep. At a 1/4 inch compost topdressing, one cubic yard covers about 1,300 square feet of lawn. Run your own numbers in the Yard calculator.