How to Care for Your Lawn in a Drought

How to Care for Your Lawn in a Drought : To sleep, or not to sleep, that is the question – for your lawn this season. When drought comes to town, there are essentially two avenues for dealing with a dehydrated lawn. One route is to make the effort to keep your lawn green – or – the other option is to let it go dormant (basically, let it go to sleep for the season).

No matter which route you choose, you’ll encounter different advantages and disadvantages. To help you determine which situation will be best for you and your lawn, we’ve laid out a basic guide so you’ll know what you’re in for – or you can hire a local lawn care company to help you with all your lawn care needs!

Keeping your lawn green through a drought.

Apply at least 1 inch of water weekly.

The key ingredient to maintaining a green lawn through a drought is applying at least one inch of water every week. However, if there aren’t any major restrictions imposed on watering practices, you’ll ideally want to water a bit more than that.

For a healthy green shine, water your turf twice weekly to a depth of 6 inches each time. If necessary, use your hose to focus water on the high priority areas and the areas that look stressed before watering the whole lawn. To keep track of how much water your lawn is receiving from you as well as from rain, leave a can out and measure water depth.

In times of drought, be aware that watering deeply but infrequently is the best way to stave off disease, conserve water, and maintain a healthy root system. Watering in the early-morning hours is most effective; between 5-10am.
Mow no more than 1/3 of the leaf blade.

Mowing your turf too short during harsh seasons can lead to weakened turf and open the door to lawn diseases and pest invasions. During the heat of summer (and especially in a drought), never mow more than 1/3 of the leaf blade length at a time.

Fortunately, even at this mower setting, your lawn won’t need to be mowed as often as growth slows in times of drought. Your turf will likely do best when mowed biweekly while cutting no more than 1/3 of the blade length.
Reduce fertilizer use.

Knowing precisely how much and how often to fertilize your lawn in a drought can be pretty tricky. However, one sure fact is that you’ll need less of it. When there isn’t enough water to support ample grass and root growth, lower nitrogen levels are better.

Continue to fertilize as needed, but reduce the amount of product used. If no water is available, you should stop fertilizing altogether until rains pick up or you can resume watering.

Letting your lawn go dormant in a drought.

Understanding dormancy.

The most important idea to understand about dormancy is that it is a completely natural process for grass to experience. Warm-season grasses go dormant in winter and cool-season grasses go dormant in summer – it’s the way nature designed it!

You should never feel like you’re destroying your turf by allowing it to take a seasonal nap. Will it turn brown and a bit ugly for a while? Yes. Are you killing your turf? No – not if you properly maintain your dormant lawn.

So how does it work? Basically, when your warm-season turf grass experiences a prolonged summer drought, the grass blades will dry up, turn brown, and die. Typically 4-6 weeks without water will send your lawn into “low-power mode” – or dormancy.

Crunchy brown grass is the tell-tale sign that your lawn has entered dormancy. Although the grass blades have died and growth has stopped, the crowns of the grass (and therefore the overall plant) remain alive. A healthy, green turf can return once water returns.

Allowing your grass to go to “sleep” like this through a drought is an excellent way to conserve water and save on irrigation costs. However, be aware that a dormant lawn will still require some maintenance or you run the chance of killing the grass. So although your lawn may be sleeping, you can’t sleep on the watch!
Not all species of grass can safely go dormant.

Although most grass species are drought-tolerant, it’s important to note that not all grasses are. Bermudagrass, St. Augustine grass, tall fescue, Zoysia grass (some varieties), centipedegrass, buffalograss, and a few other species have medium to high levels of drought tolerance. These species shouldn’t have a problem recovering from an extended period of drought dormancy (as long as they’re properly looked after).

Every climate and every grass species will require slightly different care in dormancy and come out the other side with varied success. Before you consider allowing your lawn to go dormant in times of drought, do some research to learn more about your particular grass species.
Managing your dormant turf.

Although a dormant lawn will provide you with a much needed break from constant lawn care chores, be aware that some maintenance will still be necessary. Just because your turf is sleeping doesn’t mean you can ignore it for months! A complete lack of care will most likely lead to turf thinning and death.

Watering a dormant lawn can be a little tricky. Not enough water could lead to turf death. Too much water too often and you’ll start to green up your lawn taking it out of dormancy. Ideally, you should supplement your dormant turf with 1/2 inch of water every 2 weeks. This amount of water keep the roots and crowns hydrated but isn’t enough to restart growth.

Place a can on the lawn to measure precipitation and the water you’re adding. If your lawn is already getting that much water in rainfall, no need to add more. Once your lawn is dormant, never let it go longer than 4-6 weeks without water. This amount of water may vary based on where you live and the type of grass so do a little research.

When lawns are dried out and dormant, it is best to stay off them. Mowers, lawn furniture, and even foot prints can damage your vulnerable grass. If you’re concerned that your lawn may actually be dead, try pulling up a handful of brown grass. If the grass gives some resistance, it’s dormant. If the grass pulled out easily, you may have some dead turf on your hands.
Waking your lawn from drought dormancy.

Waking a dormant lawn is simple enough – just add water! Much like waking a sleeping person with a bucket of water, the idea is to drench your lawn. Thoroughly water your turf to a depth of 6-12 inches then resume a typical twice weekly watering schedule. Your lawn should begin to green up and recover in 2-6 weeks.

About:

Gecko Green is a locally owned lawn care and pest control company that has proudly served the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for over 20 years. Backed by the best products and equipment, our trained professionals have the knowledge and experience to skillfully care for any home and yard. Gecko Green has an expert team you can rely on for lawn fertilization, pest control, tree and shrub care, and even mosquito control.

As a family-owned and operated business, we are proud to provide friendly and highly personalized customer service. Expertise.com recently recognized us as the “Best Lawn Care Services in Dallas” as well as the “Best Pest Control Services in Dallas.” Customers can be confident in our A+ Better Business Bureau rating and our Three Best rating. Call us today to experience the Gecko Green difference for yourself!