July 12th

By Mutt Mulligan

Rainfall and Lawns

In many parts of the country, there has been little rain mixed with intense heat.  One sure sign might be brown lawns.  However, lawns can go dormant, and you might be better off watering plants that can’t take any lack of rain.   As a matter of fact, turning brown is grass’s way of conserving moisture. It’s a natural response, according to George Weigel, a lawn expert published in Harrisburg’s Patriot-News.  Weigel says, “grass can be fully brown and dormant for a good 4 to 6 weeks and still come back fine once rain returns.”

If no rain for more than 6 weeks?  Weigel says “The only time I’d think about watering would be if the lawn goes beyond that 6-week cutoff of dormancy. That’s when the crowns (the growth points) can become so dry that they die, leaving nothing to recover even after it rains.    If drought drags on to that stage, I’d do a light watering of about one-quarter of an inch. That’s just enough to give some moisture to the crowns without triggering active growth. Once or twice a week of that should be enough to maintain survival mode.”

 Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.