If you’ve ever wondered why so many upscale places have signs telling you to keep off the lawn, it’s not because they don’t want people to have fun. It’s actually because excessive foot traffic is one of the worst things for your grass.
So when summer rolls around, it’s important to monitor the amount of foot traffic taking place on your lawn. You don’t have to be obsessive and monitor which parts of the lawn are stepped on more frequently than others– just a general understanding of how much people and pets walk over your grass is good enough.
Stepping on soil compacts it.
This means that it’s going to become significantly more difficult to get water to your lawn’s roots and if you know anything about lawn care, this means that the grass above it is going to die and create brown spots on your lawn.
So what can you do?
There’s both reactive and proactive steps you can take to keep your lawn in top shape.
If your lawn hasn’t yet had the season’s extra foot traffic, but know it’s coming, your goal is to keep those feet off of your lawn. Usually this means adding pathways to your landscape. Gravel and stepping stone walkways are generally the best bet.
Of course, this might not be a viable option if you don’t have the time or budget before a big event, so you can also use lawn care techniques like aeration or keeping away from mowing for a few days so the longer grass can take a little bit of the additional impact instead of your soil.
But if it’s too late to take proactive steps and your grass is already starting to brown, there’s a few things you can do to get your lawn back in its ideal state.
It’s most important to keep a consistent watering schedule. This might mean watering slightly more after noticing the browning, but then resuming your regular schedule so as to not overwater.
You can also give your lawn a bit of fertilizer and compost and then rake it into the soil to give it the boost it needs to get back to how it was.
The takeaway is that foot traffic impacts your grass– and the damage it causes is inevitable, so it’s best to know how to work against it.
And of course, make sure your lawn has a professionally installed irrigation system so that your grass stays healthy year-round.
