Drought and heat often coincide during the summer - it can be rough on everyone, including your lawn! When drought occurs, lawns turn gray, tan, or golden brown instead of the lush green we like to see. The undesirable browns are not necessarily a sign of dead warm-season lawns, rather it's a survival mechanism for getting through drought (sometimes called drought-induced summer dormancy).
Most of our southern grasses (Zoysia, Centipede, Bermuda) simply slow down by going dormant to minimize the long-term negative effects of drought. When rainfall returns or irrigation restrictions are lifted these lawns will recover their green color and normal growth. It's always surprising to see this recovery if you've never witnessed it before.
On the other hand, Tall Fescue lawns will certainly struggle in the heat. They will need extra water, monthly fungicide, and for you to raise the mowing height on your mower. Also, your yearly overseeding in September-October will give your Tall Fescue lawn a reboot and fresh start.
To reduce your worry over water requirements, choose TifTuf Bermuda for its drought tolerance. University trials demonstrate that TifTuf uses 38% less water than Tifway Bermuda; therefore, it remains green even under during a drought. It truly is remarkable how well it sails through summer heat and drought.
11 Ways to Help Your Lawn Survive Summer Drought
Our experience has shown that certain lawn care practices reduce the risk of permanent drought damage to most warm-season grasses adapted to the South. Tall Fescue will struggle more in the heat and drought, but recovery is fast when you overseed it in the autumn.
The following horticultural tricks help lawns do their best during drought:
- Reduce Mowing: Reduce frequency or completely curtail mowing on stressed grass that is not irrigated.
- Raise Cutting Height: If you do continue to mow, raise the cutting height by as much as 50% of normal, even on irrigated lawns, and make certain the mowing blade is sharp.
- Reduce Fertilizing: Cease fertilization on stressed lawns. Fertilizers will only increase the rate of growth and, because of the lack of water, severe stress can result in permanently damaged grass.
- Remove Thatch: Consider dethatching so that water easily reaches the soil around turf plants.
- Water Deeply: When permitted by local regulations, water as deeply as possible without causing run-off. Light, frequent irrigation is not only less efficient but can result in a shallow-rooted, stress-prone lawn. Infrequent, deep irrigation is preferred. Avoid run-off and waste by splitting your irrigation cycles in two if you need to, to allow water to percolate into the soil. For more information, read How and When to Water.
- Water at the Right Time of Day: The most efficient and ideal time to irrigate lawns is from just before sunrise to 10:00 AM. Complete watering by 10:00 AM, to coincide with when dew naturally evaporates. More information on timing is in our article on How & When to Water Your Lawn.
- Don't Water When it's Windy: Do NOT water during windy times; reduce water loss due to evaporation by watering when winds are calm.
- Inspect Your Lawn: During drought, inspecting your lawn becomes even more important. Early detection and control of weed and insect problems is essential to ensuring the return of a healthy lawn once rainfall occurs or water restrictions are lifted.
- Let Lawns go Dormant or Switch to TifTuf: If you are growing a Zoysia, Centipede, or Bermuda lawn – consider letting the lawn go dormant – these grasses will recover once rainfall occurs or water restrictions are lifted.
If your lawn is Tall Fescue, plan to overseed it in September-October; this is the standard, economical practice for this type of lawn and quickly revives a sad yard with fresh growth.
If you want a green lawn through drought, replace your lawns with TifTuf Bermuda. Though you won’t need to water TifTuf, we still recommend following the other drought-time recommendations on this list. - Obey the Law: Obey all state and municipal ordinances and restrictions that apply to your lawn and landscape watering.
- Be Aware of Exceptions to Drought Restrictions: Most states and municipalities make temporary irrigation exceptions for newly installed landscapes. The exceptions are adequate for establishment of sodded drought-tolerant turf. For example: In many areas of the state of Georgia irrigation can be applied to newly sodded lawns for a period of 30 days. This is enough time to root sod, such as Zoysia, Centipede, and Bermuda.
How Much Water Does My Lawn Need?
If warm-season lawns receive 1 inch of rain in the Southeast, that is plenty for a beautiful green and growing lawn. Tall Fescue needs more water during summer, up to 2 inches.
Remember to reduce irrigation by the amount of rainfall each week; if you receive ½ inch of rain in your rain gauge, you will need to apply only ½ inch of water by irrigation that week.
More information on how much water your lawns needs can be found in How & When to Water Your Lawn.
More information about typical monthly lawn maintenance for your type of grass can be looked up in our Lawn Maintenance Guides.
And, again, you don't have to irrigate if you have an established TifTuf Bermuda lawn!
