It's all too easy to get carried away with cutting our lawns shorter and shorter, after all, they do look good when they are green and velvety. The problem is that in reality, as the summer marches on the rainfall becomes less and the grass starts to turn yellow or even brown. But this can often be avoided by not cutting as low, leaving a good base of leafy grass which can absorb more of any available rain or even overnight dew. There is also a little more shelter for the roots and soil from the drying effects of the sun, so your grass will remain greener.

But we never know when the dry periods are coming, but we really should be expecting them, after all, we all hope for those warm dry summer days. So it really is best to always keep your lawn a little longer right from the spring, it really does pay off. Once the grass has turned it will take months to revert to its normal glory, just leaving it uncut for a week or two will not do the trick. So try raising your mower a couple of notches.