Our friends at Sutherlands Organics have some helpful information regarding lawn care when there is a lack of natural rainfall as well as some helpful Tips for Summer Heat & Drought.
If you live in the MA, RI or CT area Sutherland provides low-maintenance lawn care that is safer for your family and the environment!
A common concern all homeowners have, why is my lawn turning brown? Is my lawn dying? The answer is no. Your lawn is actually sleeping also known as dormant. This process of protection normally occurs in the winter, but can also occur in the summer. Should you be concerned about your sleeping lawn? This question can be answered two ways; No and Yes.
The reason for NO is because the lawn is not dead. Once treated properly you will be able to revive your lawn. The reason for YES is because; when a lawn goes dormant it is due to LACK OF WATER. In which, lack of water is never a good thing whether or not it’s been a harsh summer with extreme degrees of heat or the homeowner has just not been watering enough.
If you want to help conserve water or just don’t have time to water your lawn regularly, letting your grass go dormant during the hottest months of the year can help. A dormant, or “sleeping,” lawn will turn brown, but with proper care the underground crown of the grass plant will survive. In fact, once the grass receives ample water again (either from natural precipitation or from a sprinkler), it will begin to green up and grow new leaves.
Tips for Summer Heat & Drought
It is the time of season for summer stress, lawns will begin showing signs of drought/heat stress; please see below for helpful tips:
- As a protective measure turf will naturally slow itself down, the growth process will stop in hot temperatures; our recommendation is to limit or stop mowing schedules until extreme heat waves pass. Avoid Mowing: when the temperature is 85 degrees or above.
- Mowing the lawn in the middle of a summer heatwave is a harmful practice for your lawn and can cause long lasting damage.
- Mowing height will be essential for the summer months, please do not mow shorter than 3 ½ to 4 inches; 4 inches is best. Please note the longer grass length will not eliminate the possibility of stress – mother nature is powerful and stress in some quantities is unavoidable.
Best time to Mow:
- **Ideal time** Mid-morning 8:00am- 10:00am: Waiting till mid-morning allows for the morning dew and irrigation to dry. It is best to mow the lawn before the heat of the day sets in.
- Grass knows two things; it knows how to grow and protect itself. When you are mowing the lawn, the grass will automatically go into shock and begin to protect itself. When you are done mowing turn on your hose or sprinkler system and water for a few minutes. This will help the grass from going into shock.
Best time to Water:
- The Absolute Best Time to Water: Every other morning, early as possible to avoid as much evaporation as possible.
- Most grasses require 2 inches of water per week. This is enough water to moisten the soil to 4-soilhes below the surface for clay soils and 8-10 inches for sandy soils.
- During extreme heat, provide your lawn with a splash of water at the hottest temperature of the day, around 2:00pm/3:00pm; this splash is equivalent to us jumping in the pool on hot summers day to refresh.
Turf Stress (Browning)
- Signs of Stress: Turf browning is a sign of turf stress and is the lawn’s way of protecting itself from seasonal changes. Turf browning may show on your lawn in round patches or may be widespread.
- Stressed Not Dead: Turf browning is not a bad sign, your lawn is not dead, it is just in protection mode; the grass will drain all its nutrients from the top layers to ensure the roots keep all the nutrients to sustain its healthiness. When the nutrients are taken from the top layers, the color goes from green to brown/yellow. Although this process is not esthetically pleasing, it does show your turfs system is working correctly.
- Monthly Fertilizations: Even on drought ridden lawns, monthly fertilizations are important, our material is designed for slow release, thus, fertilizations will not harm your turf despite the dry conditions; in fact, our monthly fertilizations will help the turf by providing the nutrients needed to sustain harsh conditions.
- The Good News: Turf browning should only be temporary, once the lawn receives sufficient water or rainfall, the browning will fade, and the turf will resume its green color.
Please note, if you cannot water or rely on mother nature for rainfall, drought will temporarily impact your turf, please let the lawn go into its protective mode with the reassurance the turf will resume its normal state when mother nature provides sufficient rainfall.
Provided by our friends at Sutherland Organics
