Tips for keeping your lawn green during a drought.

While you can't prevent drought, you can take measures to prevent or at least minimise the damage drought causes to your lawn. 

 

In extended periods of summer drought, turf can turn brown and stop growing. It would take a severe drought to actually kill off the lawn, .and the grass will usually recover rapidly with the return of rainfall. 

 

Start watering as soon as the drought begins (subject to local hosepipe bans), the first signs will be a change in colour of the lawn or lingering prints or marks after stepping on the grass. 

 

Make sure you water evenly, if patches or dry, discoloured grass appear you will know that you have not watered evenly. If you are using a sprinkler, make sure it is moved around to ensure an even spread of water. 

 

Don't worry about watering every day, your lawn will stay healthy with about an inch of water per week. 

 

Set your mower deck higher, taller grass will help protect your soil from drying out. S – anywhere from 3-½-5 inches tall – to protect the soil and help conserve water. 

 

Mow less frequently to help the grass stay higher and healthier. Let the clippings fall back onto the lawn rather than collecting them. They will act as mulch and slow down the evaporation of water from the soil surface. Make sure the clippings are small, otherwise they will smother the grass and cause damage. 

 

Keep you Lawnmower blades sharp, this will make for a smoother cut and will make your height setting more accurate. 

 

Try not leave objects like paddling pools and garden furniture on the grass for prolonged periods of time. If you are uanble to move these on to patios or decking ensure you move them regularly to help the lawn to recover. 

 

 

During the autumn after a dry summer is the ideal time to help your lawn recover carry out renovation and repair. This will help the lawn to recover and also make it more drought resistant the following year. 

 

Over-seed any sparsely-grassed areas using an appropriate mixture. 

 

Avoid using lawn weedkillers or feeds on drought-affected turf in the autumn. This is best to be do in the following spring, when the grass and weeds are growing vigorously.