When there is a drought and high summer temperatures in your area, it makes it difficult to keep your lawn looking its best and fully green. However, your lawn is able to adapt to drought conditions so it can survive until more moisture is available, but you need to keep some practices in your yard care to protect it during the heat and still use minimal watering. The following are some recommendations to help you take care of your lawn during drought conditions and high heat.
Use Water Wisely
A focus during a drought is the amount of water available for watering your lawn. Compared to agricultural crops, trees, and your own vegetable garden, the lawn does not need to stay green when water is in short supply. So, it is best to adjust your lawn watering schedule to account for the lack of water and shut it down nearly completely.
As a first step, you should already be watering your lawn less frequently but for a bit longer each time you water. For example, instead of watering every other day for fifteen minutes, water your lawn every three to four or more days for a longer duration. This will deliver water more deeply into the soil and your lawn will send its root growth more deeply to make it more drought resistant. If you see signs of heat stress in your lawn and the lawn does not spring back when you step upon it, use spot watering with your garden hose on the areas that need water.
Your lawn only needs minimal amounts of water each month to stay alive, so when drought conditions worsen, look to reduce your watering to once every couple weeks. This will put your lawn into a dormancy where it becomes brown in color but its roots will still remain alive. It is important that you don't cut off all watering because your lawn will die after a month or so, and it won't grow back when you can return to regular watering.
Avoid Extra Lawn Work
When your lawn is drought stressed, you don't want to complete any lawn projects that are going to put it into extra stress. Don't put any fertilizers on your lawn because this can put extra heat on your lawn plants, and potentially damage it. You also don't want to remove thatch or aerate your lawn.
If your lawn is dormant, it is not going to grow, so you don't need to worry about mowing, but be sure you stay off the lawn with foot traffic, which can damage the plants. Let your lawn rest during the drought and worry about those projects later on in the fall when your lawn is actively growing and healthy again.
For more information on lawn care, contact a company such as Rock Solid Services LLC.
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