As a form of self-preservation, grass becomes dormant after a stretch of hot, dry weather. While a yellow lawn may not be attractive, the grass is protecting itself and will usually recover when the rains return.
Here are some tips from your Indianapolis lawn care provider to help in that recovery:
▸Heat and drought-stressed grass will recover if kept healthy and generally maintained.
▸Give the lawn 1-2 inches of water once a week. As a rule of thumb: Running sprinklers for one hour provides 1 inch of water to the area it covers, two inches in two hours, etc.
▸Be careful not to over-water. Over-watering produces shallow roots, making it more vulnerable to heat or pests.
▸The best time to water is early morning, because less water is lost to evaporation.
▸The worst time to water is in the evening, when too little water is lost to evaporation. Diseases are more likely to develop in a wet lawn.
▸Raise that mower and let grass blades grow to 3″ in height. Taller blades have deeper roots. Also, higher blades provide more shade for soil, and shade also has the benefit of stunting the growth of weeds.
It has been hot in Indy for the past few days – very hot. Though we are set for rain tomorrow and cooling temperatures by the end of the week, we have had a stretch of sunny 90+ degree days. During times like this, it is common to run your sprinklers on your lawn. After all, we all want a thick beautifully green lawn. It’s tempting to let them run for hours or even all day long. But don’t get excessive.
As we mention above, excessive watering can be bad for your lawn. Let the sprinklers run for an hour or two and then shut them off. If it rains one day, don’t turn the sprinklers on at all… All too often we see people drowning their lawns but really it just shrink the roots providing for a less healthy lawn down the line.
Maintain the lawn, watching for weeds. Weed growth can increase thanks to the heat. Weeds tend to be more resilient.
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