When temperatures soar and rainfall disappears, your lawn feels the stress just like you do. Summer can be one of the toughest seasons for turfgrass—especially in New England, where weather patterns can shift quickly. But with a few smart adjustments, your lawn can stay healthy, resilient, and even green through the hottest months.
Here’s how to beat the heat and support your lawn all summer long.
Most lawns need about 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week, either from rainfall or irrigation. In hot, dry stretches, you’ll likely need to supplement.
Water deeply and infrequently—2 to 3 times per week is ideal.
Early morning is best, before 9 AM, to reduce evaporation.
Avoid watering in the evening, which can promote disease.
If your town has watering restrictions, focus on keeping your lawn alive—not necessarily green. Grass can go dormant in summer and bounce back with cooler temps and rainfall.
One of the most common summer lawn mistakes is mowing too short. Cutting your lawn low in an attempt to reduce mowing frequency can actually stress your grass and encourage weeds.
Set your mower height to 3.5–4 inches
Keep blades sharp to avoid tearing
Never remove more than 1/3 of the blade height at once
Longer grass shades the soil, helping retain moisture and reduce weed pressure.
Summer isn’t the best time to aggressively push new growth. Fertilizing during heat or drought can burn your lawn or overstimulate weak grass.
At Mainely Grass, we avoid heavy nitrogen during summer. Instead, we focus on products that strengthen the lawn’s stress tolerance and prepare it for fall recovery.
Not all brown grass is dead grass. Lawns naturally slow growth or go dormant in summer—especially in prolonged dry conditions. This is a survival mechanism, not a failure.
However, if you notice irregular patches or discoloration that doesn’t improve after rain or irrigation, it could signal disease, insects, or other stressors.
Warm weather brings more than heat. Grubs, chinch bugs, and sod webworms are common summer lawn pests in New England. Left unchecked, they can cause serious damage.
If your lawn feels spongy or rolls up like sod, you may have a grub issue. Spotty browning with live insects visible could signal surface-feeding pests.
Late summer is a great time to plan for aeration and overseeding, which help repair summer damage and thicken your turf for next year. Timing these services right—usually late August to early September—gives new grass the best chance to establish.
With a few seasonal tweaks, your lawn can stay strong through even the toughest heat waves. Summer isn’t about perfection—it’s about protection and preparation. Treat your lawn kindly now, and it’ll reward you when cooler weather returns.