There's no sugarcoating it!

Central Texas summers are brutal! When the thermometer hits triple digits and stays there for weeks, your lawn is fighting for survival.

The good news? With the right approach, you can keep your grass alive and looking decent even through the worst of it.

Here's what actually works.

Raise Your Mowing Height

This is the single most important thing you can do in summer. Taller grass shades the soil, which keeps it cooler and retains moisture longer. During peak heat, raise your mower deck to its highest setting — for Bermuda that's around 2 to 2.5 inches, for St. Augustine it's 3 to 4 inches. Never cut more than one-third of the blade at once.

Water Deep and Infrequent

Shallow, frequent watering trains your grass roots to stay near the surface where the soil dries out fastest. Instead, water deeply two to three times per week, giving your lawn about an inch of water each session. This encourages roots to go deep where the soil stays cooler and moisture lasts longer.

Water in the Early Morning

Watering in the evening leaves moisture sitting on the grass overnight, which invites fungal disease. Watering in the heat of the day wastes water to evaporation. Early morning — between 5 and 9 a.m. — is the sweet spot. The water soaks in before the heat kicks in and the sun dries the blades naturally.

Hold Off on Fertilizing

Summer is not the time to push growth. Fertilizing during peak heat stresses your lawn even further and can cause fertilizer burn. Hold off until temperatures start to cool in early fall unless you're dealing with a specific deficiency that needs to be addressed.

Accept That Some Dormancy Is Normal

Even a healthy lawn may go partially dormant during an extreme Central Texas summer. Brown patches, slower growth, and a dull color are not always signs of a dying lawn — sometimes it's just survival mode. As long as the crown of the grass plant is still alive, it will recover when temperatures drop.

Trust the Evans Lawn Care Pros To Help

If your lawn is struggling and you're not sure why, Evans Lawn Care is here to help!

As local natives, we understand Central Texas grass and we know what it takes to keep lawns looking their best through the toughest conditions.

Call Corey today to schedule your free lawn care estimate.