Keeping Your Lawn Green Through a Dry Summer

Water less often, but more deeply

Frequent light watering encourages shallow roots that dry out fast. A thorough soak once or twice a week, ideally early morning or evening to reduce evaporation, pushes roots deeper and builds a more drought-resilient lawn.

Prioritise anything newly laid, a fresh lawn needs far more attention in heat than an established one. If your grass is new, our guide to lawn installation and turfing covers what young turf needs to establish.

Raise the mowing height

Cutting too short in summer stresses the grass and exposes the soil to drying out. Letting the lawn grow a little longer shades its own roots, holds moisture better and stays greener. Mow a touch higher through the hottest weeks, and never scalp it.

Don't panic if it browns

Established lawns are remarkably resilient. A lawn that turns brown in drought is usually dormant, not dead, and most bounce back within a couple of weeks of decent rain. Resist overwatering or over-feeding a stressed lawn into recovery, and if it struggles every single summer, the underlying cause is often the soil or drainage rather than your watering.

Little summer habits that help

• ›Leave short clippings on the lawn in dry spells, they return moisture and nutrients.
• ›Keep mower blades sharp; torn grass loses more water than cleanly cut grass.
• ›Hold off heavy feeding until the weather cools.
• ›Avoid heavy foot traffic on a parched, dormant lawn.

When a lawn needs more than care

If your lawn thins out or browns badly every year despite good care, it may be fighting compaction, poor soil or shade rather than the weather. A regular garden maintenance schedule keeps on top of the seasonal jobs, and in gardens around Esher and the wider area we often find renovation or fresh turf into properly prepared ground beats fighting the same battle each summer.