in a moderate or severe drought<\/a> right now. If you\u2019re worried that your lawn is starting to look a little rough, relax and maybe find another chore to do around the house.<\/p>\nWhatever you do, definitely don\u2019t go reaching for a new bag of fertilizer, and think twice about firing up the mower again anytime soon. Instead, the best thing you can do right now is actually the easiest: back off.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo as little as possible,\u201d said Daniel Sandor, an assistant professor of turf grass science at Virginia Tech. \u201cThe grass knows what to do. It can recover.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most D.C.-area lawns are cool season grasses \u2014 fescue and bluegrass for example \u2014 and Sandor said those are the ones most affected by drought stress. The key right now is limiting anything that adds extra strain.<\/p>\n
That means cutting back on mowing. Since the grass isn\u2019t getting enough water to grow, it\u2019s probably not growing much anyway.<\/p>\n
When you do mow, Sandor said to raise your mowing height to at least three inches, or as high as your mower will go, and always follow what he calls the \u201cone-third\u201d rule: never cut more than one-third of the blade in a single mow. In fact, he\u2019s an advocate for mowing at higher heights anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know a lot of people want their lawn to look like a golf course or a fairway, if you will,\u201d Sandor said. \u201cThe higher you mow, it really helps reduce the stress on the turf and allows those roots to go deeper, so that when that drought does come, those roots are already deeper in the soil, or trying to go deeper in the soil, to where they can maybe get water at deeper depths. If we\u2019re just mowing short all the time, those roots aren\u2019t really going very far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skip the fertilizer, too. It might seem like a good way to nurse a struggling lawn back to health, but Sandor said it won\u2019t do much good right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the soil is already dry, you don\u2019t have the ability for the fertilizers to breakdown in the soil solution, but also for the active energy in the roots to absorb those nutrients,\u201d he said. Instead, wait until fall, when root growth is most active and nutrients are more readily absorbed.<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019re planning a backyard cookout or a kids\u2019 birthday party on the grass? Go for it, as long as you\u2019re OK knowing the extra foot traffic will add some stress. Sandor said the lawn should still bounce back once rain returns.<\/p>\n
For next year, Sandor said the best drought defense starts well before summer by fertilizing in the fall, and then conducting a soil test every three years to help you know exactly what nutrients the lawn needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat really helps the turf in terms of root growth and shoot growth during those times of active growth, really be fortified,\u201d Sandor said. \u201cThat should ultimately improve their drought resistance if they\u2019re healthy going into the drought period.\u201d<\/p>\n
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