5 Lawn Care Do's and Don'ts For Clarksville Lawns This Summer

As we head into another Tennessee summer, I’m already getting calls from homeowners across Clarksville asking the same questions: “How do I keep my lawn green through the heat?” and “What am I doing wrong with my grass?” Having serviced over 7,500 lawns in the area with our team at Classic Southern Lawns, I’ve seen just about every lawn care mistake you can imagine – and I’ve made a few myself over the years.

Thank you to Emily Sart’s interview on the KWQC News for her insights on summer lawn care. Her expertise got me thinking about the specific challenges we face here in Tennessee, where the humidity can be brutal and the clay soil doesn’t always cooperate. After 80+ years of combined experience on our crew, we’ve learned that successful summer lawn care comes down to understanding your grass and avoiding the common pitfalls that stress it out.

Here in Clarksville, we deal with unique challenges that make lawn care different from other parts of the country. Our clay-heavy soil, intense summer humidity, and unpredictable rainfall patterns mean that what works in other regions might not work for us. That’s why I’m sharing these five essential do’s and don’ts that we’ve refined through years of keeping Montgomery County lawns healthy through our toughest seasons.

DO Know Your Grass Type and Let It Rest When It Needs To

Most lawns around Clarksville are made up of cool-season grasses like tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass. Here’s something that might surprise you: when your grass starts looking brown during July and August, it’s not necessarily dying – it’s going dormant to protect itself from the heat.

I tell my customers this all the time: dormancy is actually a smart survival mechanism for summer lawn care in Clarksville and Montgomery County. Your grass is basically saying, “I’m going to hunker down until September when it cools off.” This is completely normal for our area, and fighting against it often causes more harm than good.

If you’re planning to overseed or establish new grass, wait until early fall. September is our sweet spot here in Tennessee. The soil is still warm enough for good germination, but the air temperature has dropped enough that the new seedlings won’t get stressed out immediately.

DON’T Play the Watering Yo-Yo Game

This is probably the biggest mistake I see homeowners make, and it’s one that can seriously damage your lawn. Here’s what happens: your grass goes dormant and turns brown, you panic and start watering heavily to “wake it up,” then you get busy or go on vacation and let it go dormant again.

This cycle is incredibly stressful for your grass. Every time you force it out of dormancy, you’re asking it to use energy reserves. When you stop watering and it goes dormant again, those reserves get depleted even further. Do this a few times, and you can actually kill sections of your lawn.

My advice: pick a lane and stick with it. Either commit to consistent watering throughout the summer (which means deep, infrequent watering sessions), or let your grass go dormant and leave it alone until fall. Both approaches can work, but consistency is key.

DO Master the Art of Proper Mowing

After cutting over 7,500 lawns, I can tell you that proper mowing makes a huge difference in how well grass handles our Tennessee summers. We follow three simple rules that make all the difference:

Mow High: We keep grass at least 3 inches tall, sometimes higher during the peak heat. Taller grass shades the soil, keeps moisture in, and has deeper roots. It’s like giving your lawn its own natural umbrella.

Mow Often: We stick to our regular schedule even if growth slows down. Regular cutting prevents shock and keeps the grass from getting too long between cuts. Our customers on weekly or bi-weekly service see much better results than those who let it go for weeks and then scalp it.

Sharp Blades: This one’s huge. A clean cut heals faster and puts less stress on the grass. We sharpen our blades regularly, and it shows in the quality of our cuts.

With our advanced striping technology on all our equipment, we’re not just cutting grass – we’re creating healthy, beautiful lawns that can handle whatever Tennessee weather throws at them.

DON’T Fertilize During Peak Summer Heat

I get asked about this constantly: “Should I fertilize my lawn in July to help it through the heat?” The answer is almost always no. Fertilizing during peak summer heat is like asking someone who’s exhausted to run a marathon.

When grass is stressed from heat, the last thing it needs is a bunch of nitrogen pushing it to grow faster. This can actually burn your lawn and make heat stress worse. Save your fertilizer applications for early spring (March-April) and fall (September-October) when the grass can actually use those nutrients effectively. At the latest, you should be fertilizing in June, when temperatures are still warm enough for your lawn to make the most of it while not hot enough to render the fertilizer useless.

Here in Clarksville, our spring to summer fertilization window is pretty short because our temperatures can jump quickly. Fall fertilizing, on the other hand, gives great results because the grass is coming out of dormancy and ready to take up nutrients for winter storage.

DO Understand Tree Care and Avoid Costly Mistakes

Trees are a huge part of what makes Clarksville properties beautiful, but I see homeowners make expensive mistakes with tree care every summer. The biggest one? Topping trees because they’re worried about storm damage.

Topping creates massive wounds that leave trees vulnerable to disease and pests. Plus, all those water sprouts that grow back are weakly attached and more likely to break in storms – the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.

For our commercial clients and HOA properties, we recommend proper pruning techniques that maintain tree health while managing growth. The best time for most pruning is late winter when trees are dormant, though sometimes we need to do storm damage cleanup during growing season.

Your Clarksville Lawn Care Partner

After servicing over 300 customers and maintaining a 4.9-star rating with only one negative client experience out of 7,500+ lawn services, we’ve learned that successful lawn care comes down to understanding your specific property and working with nature, not against it.

Whether you’re dealing with clay soil drainage issues, choosing the right grass for your shaded areas, or figuring out the best maintenance schedule for your property, we’re here to help. Our 95% retention rate (excluding customers who’ve moved) speaks to the relationships we build with homeowners throughout Clarksville, Sango, Montgomery County, and surrounding areas.

Remember: caring for your lawn doesn’t have to be a constant battle. With the right approach and realistic expectations, you can have a beautiful outdoor space that enhances your property and gives you more time to enjoy your weekends.

Ready to Put Your Lawn on Autopilot?

If you’re tired of guessing what your lawn needs or dealing with the stress of maintaining it yourself, we’d love to help. We offer weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly programs with convenient online billing – Apple Pay, Google Pay, and automated monthly options that make lawn care as easy as your electric bill.

Contact Classic Southern Lawns today at (931) 391-3617 or visit us at classicsouthernlawns.com to get your free quote. Let our background-checked, drug-screened team take care of your lawn so you can take your weekends back.