July 2026

If there’s a tree that defines summer in Birmingham, it’s the crape myrtle. From late June through August, they light up neighborhoods across the metro in shades of pink, red, purple, white, and lavender. You’ll find them in front yards, along commercial property lines, at HOA entrances, and lining streets through Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, and everywhere in between.

By mid-July in Birmingham, your landscape beds have been through six or more weeks of sustained heat, afternoon thunderstorms, and humidity. Even beds that looked fresh and full after the spring planting are starting to show the strain. Mulch has thinned out, some plants have faded, weeds are pushing through, and the overall look has shifted from “just planted” to “making it through summer.”

July is the midpoint of the commercial landscape season in Birmingham. The spring work is done, summer maintenance is underway, and there are roughly four months left before fall transition begins. For property managers across Birmingham, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, and surrounding areas, this is the right time to step back and evaluate how the grounds program is performing. A mid-year assessment isn’t about finding fault. It’s about catching the things that slipped, adjusting what isn’t working, and making sure the property looks as strong in October as it did in April.

Your lawn looked great through May and June. The spring program was solid. You’ve been watering correctly, mowing at the right height, and staying on top of maintenance. Then July hits and sections of the lawn start turning brown. The instinct is to water more, fertilize, or call someone in a panic. Before you do any of that, there’s a good chance your lawn is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. It’s called heat dormancy, and it’s a normal survival response for warm-season grasses during the most extreme weeks of Alabama summers.