Here's how you can rescue your heat-stressed lawn this summer

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Durham grass cutting service Swurvacutz has some advice for lawn caregivers looking to rescue brown, patchy grass during this extreme heat.

"I started the business five years ago," said Tony Williams when asked how long he's worked on lawns in central North Carolina. "I've been doing it all my life. As a little boy I used to love lawn mowers and tractors. I started cutting grass and driving tractors at the age of five."

He's the owner of Swurvacutz, maintaining 10 to 11 lawns daily, and has tips on ways you can maintain yours during the heat wave our area is enduring.

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When ABC11 asked if there's any possibility of rescuing a brown, patchy and heat-stressed lawn, here's what Williams said:

"All it's doing is going to sleep. A lot of the brownness is not really dying. Grass is kind of like a human being. When we go to the dentist, they put us to sleep so we don't go crazy over the pain. That's what grass does. It's going dormant. When you see it turning brown, it's just saving itself. It's saving itself from dying, it's saving itself from the sun killing it."

He said it's smart to water your lawn when there's no rain in the forecast, but set your mower high to avoid stressing the grass and providing an opportunity for crabgrass or other invasive growth like weeds.

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The recommended frequency of mowing depends upon the variety of grass you're growing.

"Bermuda, grass like this," gesturing toward the lawn we watched him mow and edge Tuesday, "it can take movement. But fescue, you want to say off it. You can get a good month out of it."

Too much sun can also be bad for the person behind the mower.

"You can see my tan! So I prefer to not be in the heat," Williams said. "The earlier, the better, It's cool and the sun's not there as much and you can get a whole lot more done."

Bottom line, pace yourself and pay attention to how you feel as the sun's bearing down. Pushing a mower in the middle of a scorching day is probably not a good idea for most people, or their lawns.