A few weeks of warm, dry summer weather combined with insufficient irrigation is all it takes to generate a brown, drought-damaged lawn. The amount of damage depends upon the sort of lawn grass, such as heat- or cool-season bud, and dirt conditions. After you determine the type and amount of drought damage, you are able to repair your lawn by reseeding, adding fertilizer and improving the soil.
Dormant Versus Dead Grass
Just a couple of weeks of drought turn lawn grasses brown and make them become dormant. After rainfall or irrigation, dormant grass will green up again. However, severe droughts can ruin lawn grasses. Grasses will die during droughts when they don’t have deep roots. The evolution of deep roots depends upon the kind of grass and dirt conditions. For instance, compact soils hinder the growth of deep roots. However, when the soil is too sandy, it won’t retain water well and accelerate the demise of grasses. Before repairing your lawn, try to establish if drought damage killed the roots in addition to the tops of the lawn grasses. It’s hard to generate an accurate decision, but one method is to water a drought-damaged region to see whether it’s green up in a couple of days. Alternatively, you can base your decision on the length of the drought and soil conditions.
Warm-Season Versus Cold-Season Grasses
Pick the appropriate grass for your locality to limit drought damage. Warm-season grasses such as Bermuda grass (*Cynodon dactylon*) and buffalograss (*Buchloe dactyloides*) need significantly less water compared to cool-season grasses, since they conduct photosynthesis better. Bermuda grass grows well in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10, and buffalograss thrives in USDA zones 3 through 9. Characteristics of drought-resistant grasses comprise long length and higher density of origins, and thick leaf blades and leaf density. Several cold-season grasses, except for tall fescue (*Festuca arundinacea*), have short root systems. Tall fescue with its deep origins is quite drought-tolerant. It grows optimally in USDA zones 4 through 7, but in addition, it rises well outside this range.
Fertilizing Versus Reseeding
You may not have to reseed small spots or areas in your lawn that were damaged or killed by drought. Adding fertilizer with a high percentage of nitrogen encourages adjacent grass to develop and fill in the bare or damaged places. Purdue Extension turf grass specialist Aaron Patton recommends that you reseed damaged regions that are about larger than a handprint. Prior to reseeding, remove dead grass, weeds and debris with a garden rake from damaged regions. This will help the seed to generate contact with the dirt. If your soil is compacted or contains a lot of thatch, then you might have to use an aerator, particularly for large regions. An aerator removes small soil plugs to improve soil-seed touch and water and nutrient soil penetration. Use a starter fertilizer with higher phosphorus material for strong root growth. Do not use a herbicide too soon; wait till the new grass is well established. The very best time to reseed a drought-damaged lawn is late summer to early autumn.
Replacing Versus Repairing
Before repairing a drought-damaged lawn, consider the site, maintenance demands and local water restrictions. Lawns on hills or slopes, particularly when facing south, tend to be more susceptible to drought damage. Sandy soils also encourage severe drought harm. An alternative to a lawn is to plant drought-tolerant plants or groundcovers, such as Pacific beach strawberry (*Fragaria chiloensis*). Beach strawberry thrives in USDA zones 4 through 8 and rises well in warmer areas, depending on the cultivar. If you only want to repair your drought-damaged lawn places, you can make the lawn more drought-tolerant by incorporating compost into the soil and leaving grass clippings on the lawn after mowing. Grass clippings, since they decompose, provide the soil with nitrogen. Additionally, sharpen mower blades since harm to grasses from dull blades contributes to reduce resistance to disease and insect pests. Grasses, weakened by disease and pest damage, succumb more rapidly to drought damage. To encourage deeper origins, mow your lawn at a height of no less than 2 1/2 to 3 inches.