Picture the perfect summer day: sun shining, hammock swinging and kids giggling as they run around your beautiful brown lawn.

Say what?

If your deadbeat grass is the only thing keeping you from enjoying these long summer days, it’s time to take some action. But when temperatures are scorching and the sun appears to be taking its fury out on that once-healthy knoll between your sidewalk and front door, staying “green” can seem an ambitious endeavor.

Turning your private Sahara into a grassy oasis may not be as difficult as you think. If you need professional help, read reviews of local lawn maintenance companies. Otherwise, here are some do-it-yourself lawn care tips.

Know how to mow

If you’re ready for healthy, green grass, it’s time to commit to that lawn mower. While you might be tempted to cut the grass super short and stretch out the time between mowing, this won’t give you the green grass you covet. Grass that’s cut super short grows faster — and requires more water and herbicides to remain healthy and green. Longer grass also grows deeper roots, giving it the strength to remain healthy with less effort.

Euel Coats, retired professor of weed science at Mississippi State University, recommends never cutting more than a third of the grass’s length at a time. Additionally, you should make sure your mowing blades are sharpened at the beginning of the season. Dull blades can rip grass instead of cutting it clean, which can encourage disease and pests. If you're in a need of a lawn mowing service, find a professional in your area through online resources.

Don’t mess with wet grass

Sure, your lawn needs to be watered on a regular basis. But when grass is wet, it’s best to leave it alone. Mowing wet grass can compact the soil and suffocate the roots, which in turn can kill the lawn you’re trying to perfect. You should also never let the sun go down on a wet lawn. Grass needs to dry out prior to dew falling since the constant moisture can cause rot and disease.

Water deeply and infrequently

When temperatures rise, you may be tempted to sprinkle the lawn on a near-constant basis. But frequent, shallow watering actually encourages shorter root growth, which prevents grass from withstanding disease and drought.

Instead, water more infrequently, but water deeply. According to Scotts Miracle-Gro, giving your lawn an inch of water per week is a good rule of thumb for the summer months. If your sprinklers are acting up, consider the contacting a professional to take a look at them. After all, you don't want to finish the summer being on hose duty for hours on end.

Be judicious with the fertilizer

Yes, fertilizer can help your lawn thrive. That said, using too much fertilizer can encourage your grass to grow faster than you’d like — requiring increased mowing, watering and pesticides to keep it healthy. Excessive fertilizer use can also be harmful to the environment.

To choose the right fertilizer, msn.com recommends sending a soil sample to a local lab once every four years to determine its contents. The amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, salts and other matter in the soil will help you determine exactly which fertilizer to use.

Shake up the routine

Ever get tired of mowing over and over again in the same pattern? Well, so does your grass. Mowing the same direction over and over again can compact soil and produce ruts and other problems. If you tend to mow right to left, horizontally, get a little crazy and take things vertically and from the left.

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