| Proper Watering to Avoid Drought Stress |
It seems like we are going from the wettest year on record last year to what has started as the driest here in South Carolina. We’ve been getting a lot of questions and with drought-like conditions, I think it’s important to share how to recognize when your lawn is showing signs of drought stress and how to water to avoid it. During drought and without proper watering, your lawn will soon turn dormant and start to go grey and then brown. While this won’t typically kill your lawn unless it’s newer and hasn’t had time to establish a good root system, it will definitely make it impossible to have the lush, green, thick lawn that you desire. Let’s start with a few pictures I took this week so that we can help you recognize what your lawn looks like when it’s experiencing drought stress. It’s very easy to see once you know what to look for.
As you can see in the pictures above, some areas of the grass have a nice green color and others look duller and are starting to have a greyish or brown color. Those areas are experiencing drought stress and they are starting to go dormant much like during the winter months. This shutting down is the natural response of the grass to protect itself during a drought and it will wake back up when it gets watered. The mistake many people make is that they don’t understand this browning is a result of not having enough water and their response is to fertilize the lawn to make it turn green again. Unfortunately, this only makes the problem worse as it makes the grass crave even more water and the fertilizer can burn the dried out grass blades. This is why we have to be very careful when treating lawns without irrigation systems in the summer. The solution to this problem is more and proper watering.
How to reduce drought stress in your lawn:
Watering – How to water? Watering should be done less frequently, but for a longer duration (except for new sod which needs very frequent watering at first). Watering for long periods of time 1-3 times per week encourages the roots of your turf to grow deeper in the ground, which will lead to increased drought tolerance in the future. This is in contrast to watering it every day for short periods of time, which promotes disease and leads to a shallow root system. It’s hard to say how long and how often you need to water because there are so many variables such as your soil type, drainage, rainfall, type of sprinkler and output, etc. But, you should water enough that you are not seeing signs of drought stress. If you are currently watering twice a week for 20 minutes per zone and still seeing drought stress, try upping it to 30 or 40 minutes per zone and see if the grass recovers. If not, up it again or add a third day. Every lawn and each part of every lawn will be a little different and this will be something that will need to be adjusted a few times throughout the season as the temperature and rainfall changes.
Consider an irrigation system – The years of having consistent weather in the summer seem to be over. If you don’t have a way to properly water, it’s going to be nearly impossible to have a beautiful lawn. You might consider having an irrigation system installed by a professional. An irrigation system is an effective way to reduce your water costs, prevent uneven watering, and keep your lawn healthier, especially during drought-like conditions. Additionally, installing an efficient irrigation system can also increase the value of your home and save you time. One professional we recommend is Mr. Wayne Temples. If you are interested in getting an estimate to have a system installed or having your current system repaired, you can get in touch with him directly at 843-458-7626.
Aeration– As the dry months come to an end, it is important to assess if the lawn needs any recovery treatment such as aeration to loosen the dried out soil. Late summer/Early fall is a great time to get your lawn aerated, even while it is dry because recovery will be rapid once the rain finally arrives.
