Dealing with drought in lawns
Dealing with drought in lawns may seem a bit untimely for our area. It seems like it has rained every day for months now. Even if we aren’t in an official time of drought today, your lawn may be in a bit of distress due to the extreme heat. However, a time of drought is probably inevitable at some point in the upcoming months.
Be prepared
With our recent extreme heat, you may be seeing some brown appear. As the rain becomes less frequent, this may become more evident. Don’t worry too much, most of our grass species can take three to four weeks of dormancy without dying.
Dormancy doesn’t mean “dead”
Dormancy just means your grass has gone to sleep. You can tell if your grass is dead or dormant by tugging on the plants. If the plants pull out from the ground easily, they’re probably dead. If the roots hold fast when pulled, the plants are dormant. Brown grass is not the only sign of stressed-out grass, another sign is “footprinting”.
What is footprinting?
Walking over the same areas of lawn compacts the grass and compacted soil can’t absorb water. On a lawn that is already parched, these are the areas that suffer first. Footprinting is when you step on your parched lawn and footprints don’t disappear right away.
Preventative measures to fight drought
- Your lawn needs about an inch of water or rain per week to thrive. At the first sign of stress, begin watering!
- If using a sprinkler, that means about 20 to 30 minutes/three times per week.
- Skip at least a day between waterings.
- Move sprinklers around to cover all areas of your yard.
- Water in the mornings, between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. Watering before the sun rises helps to keep evaporation to a minimum.
- Don’t mow the lawn too short or too often during times of drought.
- Stay off the lawn!
Are you feeling hesitant to use these methods to deal with drought in your lawn? Just remember all of the time, money, and effort you put into your lawn and landscape. It is less costly and certainly easier and quicker to water your lawn than to replace it when it’s too late. The same goes for your landscape plants and trees.
Your lawn and landscape are an investment. We work year-round with our customers to protect their investments. Whether preventing and treating disease and invasive pests or nurturing with lawn fertilization and aeration we want your lawn to look the best it can!
A little water and care will go a long way when dealing with drought in lawns. At Lawn and Pest Solutions, our licensed lawn technicians can help you achieve your lawn goals and maintain them all year long. We serve the Memphis, TN area as well as all over North Mississippi. You will see our trucks and techs in Oxford, Tupelo, New Albany, Germantown, Olive Branch, Fulton, and more. You can contact our office 24/7 to get started with our termite program.
