Summertime and the livin’ – I mean lawn care – is easy in Chicagoland. The main task in summer is watering your grass, but you also need to be on the lookout for summer lawn pests and lawn diseases.
Let’s take a closer look at watering your Chicago lawn – how much and how often in summer – and the pests and diseases that can mar your perfect lawn and even endanger you while you’re mowing your grass.
Water Deeply Twice a Week, Early in the Morning
Watering your lawn in summer is the No. 1 thing you can do to keep your grass green and healthy. Cool-season grasses, which are the foundation of most of Chicago’s lawns, can be stressed during hot temperatures with no rain.
For example, Kentucky bluegrass (the most common grass type in Chicago) can go dormant and turn brown in summer. This dormant period protects grass from hot, dry temperatures. When rain or irrigation returns, the lawn greens up. To keep a lawn green and growing all summer, irrigation is essential.
These are key principles of a good watering strategy:
Water Early
City and suburban watering restrictions limit when you can water your lawn, but rules here are minor compared to those in drought-stricken areas of the country like the Southwest.
Here in Chicago, where our water comes from Lake Michigan, we can water our lawns from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Friday. You can water anytime on weekends and holidays.
Why these hours? The Chicago city website notes: “Watering in the early morning or evening benefits your lawn most because less water is lost to evaporation at these times. Taller grass withstands heat better and requires less watering.”
Note: Check your particular Chicagoland municipality website, as local watering rules often vary from city to city.
Make Sure Your Lawn Gets Water 2-3 Times a Week
Water your yard twice a week for 30 minutes, says LawnStarter Chicago Pro David Solomon of Solomon’s Services. Your grass needs more water when it’s hot and less rainy. For example, in spring, you should water your lawn once a week, Solomon says.
If you’re worried about your water bill and don’t care if your lawn isn’t ideal, “you can water less frequently; your grass will recover,” Solomon says.
An Inch and a Half of Water is Ideal, Counting Rain
Your yard needs around 1- to 1.5-inches of water each week, U of I’s Extension says. Excluding rainfall, you’ll achieve that if you follow the instructions above and water twice a week for 30 minutes each zone.
Watch for Grubs and Chinch Bugs
Summer lawn pests in Chicago include white grubs and chinch bugs which can destroy your grass, the Chicago Botanic Garden notes.
Grubs: Signs your lawn has grubs include discolored grass, loose turf, and patches of dead grass. You may also see a lot of birds in your yard pecking at the grass for grubs.
See Related:
– Lawn Grubs: How and When to Kill Them
Chinch Bugs: These summer lawn pests feed on sap in the grass and inject a toxin that kills the plant’s tissue. The result is that grass wilts and becomes discolored, and the damage they cause creates brown patches in the lawn.
See Related:
– How to Get Rid of Chinch Bugs on the Lawn
Yellow Jackets: Most active in late summer and early fall, yellow jackets are a type of wasp that can transform a peaceful yard into a potential danger zone. And since the female yellow jacket stings multiple times to protect its nest, be careful when mowing your grass.
Treat for Summer Lawn Diseases
Summer patch is lawn disease that turns lawns brown in, well, summer. Other lawn diseases to watch out for in Chicago include dollar spot, brown patch, and rust.
LawnStarter has guides for how to identify, treat, and help your grass recover from these lawn diseases. It all starts with comparing what you are seeing in your yard to pictures of lawn diseases so you know what you’re up against.
See Related:
– Summer Patch
– Dollar Spot
– Brown Patch
– Rust
Need Help With Chicago Lawn Care? Hire Us
When your lawn needs mowing in Chicago, or you’re dealing with lawn diseases or lawn pests, LawnStarter can help. Our local lawn care pros cut grass, trim around your lawn’s edges, and blow debris off sidewalks, patios, and driveways on every visit.
LawnStarter’s local pros mow grass from Bartlett to Joliet and Naperville to Schaumburg to Evanston. When you’re battling lawn diseases or pests, we’re also just a few clicks or a quick call away.
Sources
– Watering Your Lawn, University of Illinois Extension
– Chicago Watering Guide, Chicago Botanic Garden
– Annual White Grubs, Chicago Botanic Garden
– Chinch Bugs, Emerald Lawn Care Inc.
– Yellow Jackets, Pointe Pest Control
– Chicago Lawn Diseases, KD Landscape
Main Image: Lawn mowed by a LawnStarter pro in Chicago. Illustration by Whitney Lehnecker / LawnStarter
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