The green lawn on the site is a great place of relaxation, and almost every owner tries to take at least a couple of meters under the green zone. But it happens that they began to arrange the site in the summer, when the hot days came and the time for planting the grass passed. In this case, there are two options: either wait for the fall, when the temperature drops and a more favorable time for sowing comes, or at your own risk and sow the lawn with heat.
Naturally, not every housewife will have the patience to wait before a cold snap, because weeds will instantly inhabit the empty land. Yes, this is not necessary. If you sow with certain precautions and tricks, then even the worst heat of seedlings will not spoil. How best to plant a lawn in the summer - we will consider in detail.
The initial stage of planting: preparing the ground
Soil Composition Correction
Despite the fact that all lawn grasses have good survival on any soil, the composition of the land is still worth adjusting. If the soil is clay, then when digging it, add peat, sand and humus (in equal proportions), and if it is sandy, add more dense soil, for example, forest soil.
Focus on your feelings: take a lump of soil in your hand and try to form a ball out of it. If it turns out very dense - the earth is heavy, it should be made easier (dilute with sand or peat). If the ball rolls, but loose and ready to disintegrate, the soil is normal. If it is impossible to roll up at all, it means that the soil is too loose and will not hold moisture.
If the land is infertile, remove it half a meter in depth and dilute it with useful components - peat, humus, sand, etc., or fill it with prepared soil
It does not hurt to introduce complex fertilizer, which will accelerate the germination of seeds and give them additional nutrition.
The rest of the preparation of the soil is ordinary: eliminate debris, stones, plant roots, level the site, mark the boundaries.
Creating protection against drying out of the soil
So, the soil is loosened, cleaned and ready to receive seeds. But do not rush. In the summer, under the scorching sun, the earth dries instantly, and it harms good germination. Therefore, first of all, create protection in the earth itself from its quick drying. To do this, remove the entire soil by 30 centimeters, stamp the bottom and line it with cardboard. It can be all kinds of boxes, newspapers in several layers, etc.
Such a layer does not interfere with the circulation of air in the soil, but will retain water in the outer layers, not letting it pass deeply. And the blades of grass will not lack moisture. By the way, cardboard itself perfectly absorbs moisture, and then gradually gives it away. So the soil will be wetter than usual. By autumn, the paper layer will decay, and this is where its function will end.
Surface alignment
Scatter the removed soil on top of the cardboard and compact it with a roller, and in narrow sections with a regular short board. Spread the board, starting from the edge of the plot, and jump on it. Under the force of weight, the earth is leveled. You can attract children to this lesson. They will enjoy jumping on the boards.
To level the surface of the earth as much as possible after tamping, walk along it with the back of the rake. They pull off the excess, and the soil becomes smooth as a knee. If small pebbles will be picked out under the rake, it is better to immediately remove them, since the blades of grass at these points will not germinate anyway, and the turf will turn out uneven.
Damping with a board is convenient to use for those areas where a bulky skating rink cannot turn: between tracks, on flowerbeds and winding discounts
The nuances of summer sowing: how to ensure germination?
Now you can proceed to the most crucial moment - planting seeds. It is enough to make summer sowing according to the norms indicated on the package with the herbal mixture. An unexpected advantage of planting in the heat is the weak germination of weeds. If in the spring they spill out practically in the same amount with blades of grass, then in the summer (starting from the second half of July) their activity decreases sharply. And while the so-called autumn weeds hatch, the lawn manages to enter into full force and suppress them.
Sowing time and density
It is better to plant grass in the evening so that it does not immediately begin to fry the summer sun. Before planting, spill the soil thoroughly by sprinkling.
The hotter the weather, the longer it is necessary to water the prepared soil so that it is saturated with moisture at least 5 cm deep
If there are still puddles on the ground (photo 1) - to sow early, you have to wait until the surface absorbs all the water and slightly hardens (photo 2)
Wait until completely absorbed and sprinkle the seeds. If the area of the plot is small, it is better to first wake up the edges, and then the rest of the area. This will ensure even distribution of grass.
Having carefully sprinkled the edges of the plot, start sowing the entire site, focusing on the consumption rates indicated on the package with the herbal mixture
After sowing, be sure to mulch the area with a layer of dry soil or peat. The grass must hide from the sun. Having scattered mulch, do not spill it, but leave it dry. So it is easier to roll on the seeds and push them into the wet ground. To crush the mixture, use the same board or skating rink.
Protecting blades of grass from the sun
In the spring or in the fall these events would be enough for the grass to give good shoots. But in summer, the temperature of the upper layers of the soil warms up so much that hatching seeds can easily burn out. And if they succeed in sprouting, then all the power of the sun's rays will fall upon the tender blades of grass. To save seedlings, it is necessary immediately after sowing to close the entire area with non-woven white material. It will reflect the rays and lower the temperature of the soil. And moisture will evaporate less.
Along the edges of the lawn, the material is fixed with boards, reinforcement or any other heavy objects, and if the area is large, then it is better to press down the middle. To do this, drive in the corners of the pegs and pull the twine from the edges of the plot (crosswise) so that it passes through the center, lowering the thread flush with the soil. The twine will squeeze the material and prevent it from rising from the wind.
Lightweight non-woven material does not interfere with the passage of oxygen to the soil at all, but it reflects a significant part of harmful sunlight, incinerating gentle shoots
How to care for crops?
The finished lawn should be shed daily (morning and evening), spraying water with fine rain on top of the non-woven material. He perfectly lets moisture in and prevents it from evaporating quickly. By the way, in uneven areas where there is a bias in one direction, such a shelter will avoid erosion of seeds and pulling them to a low place by streams of water. Therefore, the seedlings will be more even and friendly.
The first thin blades of grass will begin to break through about a week after planting, and if the site is not covered, the seedling time will be delayed for another week
With careful watering, the first blades of grass will appear in a week. Wait until the grass grows to 3-4 cm. And only then remove the shelter. Then pull out all the weeds with your hands and mow the lawn. The first blades of grass will be thin, so it is advisable not to walk on the lawn until it is strong. You will see this by powerful turf and lush, thick greens.
Another nuance of summer planting - do not feed young seedlings with fertilizers, especially nitrogen ones. At high temperatures, they can burn out the root system. It’s better to wait for the rainy season, or don’t add anything at all, especially if you added fertilizers when preparing the soil. The supply of food on fresh grass ground is more than enough, and excess growth forcing weakens immature roots and leads to freezing of individual sections in winter.
This is what a summer lawn looks like in early October - with a powerful turf, a healthy, juicy color, and it has a good chance of wintering well
Grass planted in July, already in the beginning of autumn, looks quite mature. It winters beautifully, freezes less often than during autumn planting. In addition, if the mixture goes badly (and this depends on the quality of the seeds!), You will have time to sow bald spots in stock before the onset of cold weather. But in this case, it is necessary to cover each restored place with non-woven material in order to ensure a normal climate for crops, or again to cover the entire area, as you did in the case of the first sowing.
As you can see, with some care, a beautiful lawn can be grown in the heat. But roses grow in Siberia, so why can not weed in the summer? It all depends on the efforts of the owners ...
