Watering Heat Stressed Lawns

Lawn Alert

July 2018

Lot’s of folks have been asking if they should continue to water their brown lawns. This is what Uncle recommends.

If your lawn is looking great: You have been watering routinely, continue your normal watering cycles, and you get a gold star for staying ahead of the game. Don’t change a thing.

If your lawn is brown and toasty: You’ve been away on vacation or just couldn't find the time or money to keep ahead of the watering, it is okay to allow your lawn to go dormant in this heat. Dormancy is a good thing, that’s Mother Nature’s way of helping the grass plant to survive. An established yard can survive drought periods for a few weeks, but high heat and wind can really mess things up.

We would encourage you to water 1 to 2 inches every other week to keep the roots alive. We’re not trying to green it up, just helping the roots and crowns to survive the summer furnace blast. Water in the morning hours to help reduce evaporation. If you need to mow, mow high and try to keep foot traffic to a minimum.

Save yourself $500 water bills this month and next. You can use half of it for seed this fall and send the other half to the Royals relief fund.

Kansas City is in Horticultural Drought

Agricultural droughts that impact the 3.4 billion-dollar Kansas wheat harvest will gain national media coverage globally, but when we have a drought that effects our lawns and landscapes, it can frequently be overlooked until we realize it is impacting our own homes. Right now, in Kansas City, we are on the verge of seeing damage to lawns and recently planted landscapes that have not occurred in decades according to Jerry Moore of the Grass Pad in Olathe Kansas. “I went into this business 40 plus years ago and had never seen lawns this brown in May”. “Grass looks like it normally does in August and it is still May.” According to the latest data from Eric Luebehusen, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture most of Kansas continues to be in moderate to severe drought with extreme drought in southwest Kansas.

When grass turns brown like this, it allows sunlight to get to the soil and dry it out even faster. The sun will cause our weed preventers to fail, and crabgrass and foxtail will appear earlier this year than usual. When lawns have crabgrass and foxtail epidemics that last more than the typical month of August the desirable grasses are crowded out, and the fall frost will leave the yard bare and susceptible to soil erosion over the winter.

Trees and shrubs planted in the last 3 to 5 years are at risk as well. According to the Morton Arboretum during times of drought like this, the young roots of trees and shrubs are killed outright. The soil becomes hard and compact in the top 1 to 2 feet where the roots live. Plants like trees, shrubs, groundcovers and especially evergreens without adequate watering will suffer much. Massive plant loss is likely if it does not begin to rain. Add these conditions to the increased planting Kansas City has seen recently with the current Real Estate boom these losses will add up to millions of dollars in damage and loss.

People should be diligent about watering their lawns and landscapes. The soil should be saturated at least 12 inches deep. Trees that have been planted in the last five years will not have developed a root system extensive enough to withstand a drought that could go on for six months or more.

Insects, as well as weeds, thrive in these conditions. Ants, fleas, and ticks love dry conditions and will reproduce unharmed by typical spring rainstorms that have missed us. Pets and people should be monitored closely as last weeks warm weather will trigger the hatch cycles of most all pests.

Five Tips on How to Treat Your Summer Lawn During High Heat

Cool season grasses, like bluegrass and fescue grasses may soon go dormant as a result of recent high heat. Here are five tips on how to treat your lawn during high heat and summertime stress.

1. Minimize wear and traffic. Mowing stressed turf can cause damage to turf. Mow when the turf needs it -- not as a scheduled routine practice.
2. Mow higher than normal. Taller grass plants provide protection to the crown and shade the soil surface, reducing moisture loss.
3. Keep your mower blade sharp. A dull blade rips and pulls the grass blades, leaving ragged tears that both weaken the plant and promote fungal growth and other grass diseases. Blades should be sharpened at least twice a year.
4. Keep grass clippings on the lawn, rather than bagging them.
5. Water your lawn deeply – rather than frequently – to promote healthier roots. This helps lawns be more drought-resistant.