The hot weather can turn lawns brown and wilt plants within days. Everyone knows that a garden needs watering, but how much is optimal? I've listed some essential tips for homeowners to achieve a great lawn with minimum effort. 

Keep it green

It's easy to overwater your lawn, it needs about one inch of water each week. For best results, thoroughly water the grass a couple of mornings a week only. Avoid doing this in the evenings as water will sit on the grassroots in the cool of night and introduce fungus. 

Get to the roots

If you water deeper but less often the roots will grow deeper, what does this mean?  Aerate your lawn to be certain that the water is getting to where it needs to go. This is also true when it comes to gardens, introduce a drip system that waters the roots and not the leaves, too much water on the leaves will cause mildew and a bad harvest.

Check you're doing it right

You should be able to push a screwdriver into your lawn easily, depending on your soil, aeration may be needed more than twice a season to be sure that water is getting into the soil and not pooling on top.

Weed and feed 

You can give your lawn a boost with commercial products that claim to “weed and feed”. It's essential to pick one suitable for your type of lawn, there has been an increase in organic weed and feed products that work well and don't come with a list of health warnings. 

Not too short

A common mistake is cutting your lawn too short, this can allow weeds to take over as well as allowing the sun to wreak havoc and burn your lawn.  Keeping your grass long and tidy will give it the best chance to survive under most circumstances.