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Lawn survival guide summer party season

There's something special about Australian summers. The skies look bluer, food tastes better, and the way the grass cools your hot bare feet; there's nothing quite like it. But if there's one thing that screams Australian Summer, it's a barbie – with a side of backyard cricket of course.

Unfortunately, all that foot traffic, energetic dogs and furniture wears down your lawn, leaving it looking like an old doormat. Thankfully though, we're here to explain how you can host as many barbies and play as much backyard cricket as you want, all without losing the lawn you spent all of spring preparing.

Here's how to keep your lawn looking luscious all summer long, with our Munns Lawn Survival Guide for the Summer Party Season.

The Pre-Party

Your lawn shouldn't just look amazing; it should be ready for anything your guests can throw at it. If you have undulating spots in your lawn, mow the area down low and top dress with sandy loam (80% sand, 20% loam) to bring the low spots up to the level you require. It's best to spread 1-2cm at a time over the area to level it out, and then water well.

The next step is to aerate your lawn 4-6 weeks before any big BBQs, giving the roots plenty of oxygen so they can grow as strong as possible. For compacted soil, you've got 3 options:

Buy a inexpensive hand corer,
Hire a machine corer or,
Organise a contractor to do the job.

Flood the lawn the day before to soften the soil then aim to create 5cm-7.5cm deep cores in the hard compacted soil, then spread the 80/20 mix at 1kg/sqm over the area. Your lawn will thank you for it!

To help your lawn cope with summer, change the height of the mower to suit your lawn type. For cool season grasses like ryegrass and fescue, raise the blades to 5cm and for warm season grasses like couch, kikuyu and buffalo set the blades at 2-4cm. Using a catcher can help prevent the build up of thatch.

One of the best things you can do through summer is to give your lawn a deep soak in the morning 1-2 times a week. But, you've still got to feed it. For high traffic areas, like your kids' favourite backyard cricket pitch, we recommend fertilising every 6 weeks.

For warm season grasses, we recommend you use Munns Professional Buffalo Booster Lawn Fertiliser or our Munns Buffalo Green Fertiliser Lawn Fertiliser.

For cool season grasses, we recommend Munns Professional Golf Course Green Lawn Fertiliser or Munns Golf Course Green Lawn Fertiliser.

To take it to the next level apply Munns professional Green Dominator 2 days before the party and your guests will be green with envy

The Party

To minimise the damage to your lawn, spread out foot traffic as much as possible. This way you won't completely destroy one area, and you'll reduce soil compaction.

Throughout the BBQ, we also recommend moving around any chairs, tables, eskies, and stumps; a backyard bowling crease will make for a mean dead patch if left in the one spot for too long.

The After-Party

Just like the morning after a big party, it's time to rehydrate – so give it a good soak in the morning. After a brutal summer session on the lawn, the soil can become dry and the roots weakened. If you start to see water beading off instead off penetrating your soil, add Munns Professional Smart Wetter Lawn Wetter into your watering regime. Always water deeply and not too often to encourage strong root growth. From here on in, we still recommend that you heavily water in the morning, 1-2 times a week. And don't forget to check your local council guidelines for water usage and restrictions.

Follow these great tips to keep your lawn sensational during summer! And, for more great tips like these and inspirational ideas for your lawn, make sure you follow Munns on Facebook.