Does your lawn resemble a dried-up desert? Don't panic – there's still hope for it this summer

Keeping your garden happy when record-high temperatures hit during summer can be a real challenge. And lawns in particular can be sensitive to extreme weather, so when they seemingly die on you, it's hard not to panic.

Even when you know all the essential lawn care tips for summer, a heatwave can easily come along and undo all your hard work. Knowing how often to water your lawn in summer can help to prevent it becoming a crispy wasteland; however, when hosepipe bans and heatwaves occur, that watering routine can go out the window.

If your lawn has completely dried out and turned brown, you might be thinking it's all over, but garden expert Ish, @gardening.with.ish on Instagram, says there's hope yet.

You can do everything to avoid lawn care mistakes this summer, but with hot, dry weather and a hosepipe ban in place, your lawn will inevitably suffer.

"If your lawn is looking a lot like mine, which can only be described as a post-apocalyptic desert scene, then you may be thinking, well, this brown carpet mess is now the end of my lawn for this year," starts Ish.

"But I'm here to tell you that's the complete opposite. What's actually going on here is quite cool. So, the grass has died completely on top; it's gone brown, it's gone crisp. That's no use to anyone, but underneath is where the action is happening, because the roots actually go dormant," he adds.

"They let this die over to create a nice kind of netting over the top to protect it from any more drought, and then it does nothing until it's got more moisture from the soil," Ish points out.

In the same way you protect plants from frost while they lay dormant in winter, the grass does this for itself during dry seasons.

Although there are ways to water your garden during a hosepipe ban, for your lawn, it's best to wait until the bans are lifted or the inevitable rain arrives.

"So, in the next few days, when I start to get heavy rains or the hose pipe bans lifted again, I can start to rehydrate my lawn and sure enough, some of this will brush away with the rake, and in its place, new grass will grow from those roots," Ish says.

"It just goes to show that actually it's not the end of the world. You can leave your lawn like this, and whilst it's slightly unsightly, actually, it's perfectly fine and perfectly healthy. And remember, when it does get to the point to be able to water it, do it in the mornings or evenings, when it's nice and cool," he recommends.

And that same advice goes for the best time to water your garden plants, too, during summer; that way you're not having to help them recover from sunburn.

Not only can you prepare your garden for a heatwave, but you can also mulch before the hot weather brings on a hosepipe ban. That way, your garden is less likely to suffer, and you'll have less fixing up to do when the sun leaves.