My lawn looks burned! What happened last week?
The rain finally came last weekend, but not in time to
keep some lawns from suffering drought stress! If you have patches in your
lawn that were greening nicely and have turned a straw color in the last week,
it’s very likely due to drought stress. The prolonged period without rain was
just long enough that some lawns were on the edge of going dormant due to
lack of moisture. (It’s the same thing that usually happens late May or early
June when we transition from spring weather to summer heat. The turf-grass dries
just enough to make the plant shut down; but rainfall or watering brings it
back.)
No need to worry! The grass is not dead! You don’t need to
do anything except be patient and wait for it to green up and grow back. (It’s kind of like
getting a buzz cut, you have to wait a couple weeks for the hair to grow back!)
Moisture stress or drought damage does not harm the crown of the grass plant and with the return of soil moisture, it’s already beginning
to grow again and should be recovered within 10 days to two weeks. Regular
spring watering – (probably once a week if there’s no rain and the temperatures
stay fairly cool) – will be fine for the next few weeks.
So don’t go out there and rake it up. Just be patient! And
remember it’s likely to happen again when we get the first hot spell in June….
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