Any lawn, turf, landscape experts out there? Will our crispy lawns

[anticyclonic]

make it through this drought/heat wave? WIll they bounce back or die and reseeding be necessary? Or can some other treatment be done to it in this dormant stage? KCCI had a segement that included and expert from ISU that said we will need rain soon or grass could actually die. I don't plan on watering, will wait for rain if that ever shows up, I have encountered only three thunderstorms for the entire year so I am not holding out hope.

I have never seen a July like this, August 1983 and August 1988 were as bad but summer was closer to being over then. The high today is probably going to be between 105 and 110 in south central iowa with two more days ahead and we have had only 0.3 inches of rain for the month . Not looking good.

 

[twistedredbird]

you should still water your grass if dormant. they say 1 inch a week.

I have a feeling a lot of lawns will be very ugly next year.

 

[Clonefan94]

you should still water your grass if dormant. they say 1 inch a week.

I have a feeling a lot of lawns will be very ugly next year.

The problem is keeping the weeds out for me. Grass isn't growing, but the weeds still are.

 

[jaretac]

You grass will come back. If you can water, water; if you can't, don't worry about as I see grass all the time dry up and come back. Keeping your grass longer will help your yard survive better as well.

Also an inch a week is a lot of water, especially during a drought! Nature doesn't even provide that during a normal year in Iowa and I never noticed a huge problem with wildfires out there.

 

[DesertClone1]

Didnt water our football field at all last week. Came right back when we watered it this morning.
ISU says to Water it 30 minutes. Morning Noon and Night

 

[twistedredbird]

Is my lawn dormant or dead? Top Story 3 News From Terre Haute, Indiana

1/4 inch every two weeks to keep alive. I would say under the 100° temps we have, that is low given how fast it will evap.

more than six weeks without any water = dead. I would say I wouldn't go more than 2 weeks myself, having experienced severe hot weather in Kansas City without rain and similar 90° or 100° temps.

My 1 inch estimate is what my lawn guy told me to do, but when it rained last week and we got 4 inches, almost my whole yard is green again, while most of my neighbors who did no watering for the last two months are still yellow crispy.

 

[jaretac]

Is my lawn dormant or dead? Top Story 3 News From Terre Haute, Indiana

1/4 inch every two weeks to keep alive. I would say under the 100° temps we have, that is low given how fast it will evap.

more than six weeks without any water = dead. I would say I wouldn't go more than 2 weeks myself, having experienced severe hot weather in Kansas City without rain and similar 90° or 100° temps.

My 1 inch estimate is what my lawn guy told me to do, but when it rained last week and we got 4 inches, almost my whole yard is green again, while most of my neighbors who did no watering for the last two months are still yellow crispy.

What is the humidity? I've not really been paying attention so I honestly don't know what your weather has been like other than it's been hot and you haven't had much rain. If the humidity is higher than your rate of absorption is less.

I live in a dry climate, so in my experience it will come back. I do realize that the grass in this area is use to it though, where Iowa grass might not be able to handle it. We have got just over 3 inches of rain this month which is over 2 inches more than normal for July. For us, high humidity, even during a rainstorm, is 40% and normal is about 15%. Still the grass always comes back as soon as there is moister there to support it, usually in the moister spring or fall months. Even at that though we only get 12 inches a year so...

I guess it really depends on how nice you want your yard to look right now. Long term your grass will survive.

 

[twistedredbird]

I guess it really depends on how nice you want your yard to look right now. Long term your grass will survive.

In Kansas City through Arkansas where this weather we are having in the midwest is often typical, complete reseeding of yards in the fall is common.

The humidity has been very low up till now, and temps setting all kinds of records. We were in a drought before July.


Right now, I am just trying to keep my trees and perrenials alive.

 

[JWIL4CY]

If you have kentucky bluegrass, it is very good at dealing with droughts. However, this has been a pretty epic drought so you should get some water on there ASAP if you haven't been doing it very often.

 

[acoustimac]

I've got soaker hoses on my young trees, hostas and a few others that I hit every night. Is keeping them happy. Just postponed having my yard dug up (doing a complete relandscaping to change the angle away from the house) because I know new grass won't grow without a huge water bill. Hoping the long range forecast changes as it says a dry fall and possibly another winter like last year's. This could go from drought to a disaster of historic proportions...remember the dust bowl years? This could be the start...

 

[CykoAGR]

The answer is really it depends.

If you have a fairly developed lawn (5+) yrs with decent soil you probably will experience minimal loss.

If you have a young lawn or a lawn that is on sandy or heavy clay soils you will more than likely lose some spots or even larger areas.

Yes, grasses go dormant when it gets dry but as others have said just because its dormant doesnt mean that it doesnt need any water. There will be a ton of ticked off people this fall or next spring or whenever the grass finally starts to grow/green again because they will be dealing with a LOT of dead spots if they havent watered at all, especially those with newer lawns.

If you think that your grass will survive an entire summer with little or no rain you are going to be dissapointed.

 

[anticyclonic]

In Kansas City through Arkansas where this weather we are having in the midwest is often typical, complete reseeding of yards in the fall is common.

The humidity has been very low up till now, and temps setting all kinds of records. We were in a drought before July.


Right now, I am just trying to keep my trees and perrenials alive.

These are now my focus too. These are extraordinary conditions, not simply grass goes dormant and then comes back in fall, this is the hottest July since 1934 and perhaps driest ever at least in southern Iowa.

 

[CykoAGR]

What is the humidity? I've not really been paying attention so I honestly don't know what your weather has been like other than it's been hot and you haven't had much rain. If the humidity is higher than your rate of absorption is less.

I live in a dry climate, so in my experience it will come back. I do realize that the grass in this area is use to it though, where Iowa grass might not be able to handle it. We have got just over 3 inches of rain this month which is over 2 inches more than normal for July. For us, high humidity, even during a rainstorm, is 40% and normal is about 15%. Still the grass always comes back as soon as there is moister there to support it, usually in the moister spring or fall months. Even at that though we only get 12 inches a year so...

I guess it really depends on how nice you want your yard to look right now. Long term your grass will survive.

This post is pretty hard to follow but I will try:

The RH here in Central IA is actually lower than normal, we have no water in the soil to evaporate, no rain so the moisture level in the air is more like Texas than a normal Iowa summer. Because of the low RH the plants and soil lose moisture faster to the air than normal. Plants (grass) are comfy in high humidity, just the opposite of us humans. We would have very high Evapotranspiration right now if we actually had any moisture in the soil to evaporate, the reality is that we dont.

Bottom line is that I would highly reccomend watering your lawn if at all possible within reason. If you live in the country or have a 5 acre yard its really not an option for most. If you live in the city and have a normal sized lawn I would reccomend watering substantially (around 3/4-1inch) per week. This seems like a lot, the reality is that you are working with nearly zero reserve so it is much more important than if you were watering in early May when soil moisture was fairly adequate.

 

[CyCrazy]

I havent and won't water my yard. Just wait it out after a couple of good soaking rains it will be green again. On the plus side I have not mowed my yard in over a month.

 

[cychhosis]

If you do water, do the whole amount (1")for the week at one time. Preferably early in the morning.

 

[jaretac]

This post is pretty hard to follow but I will try:

The RH here in Central IA is actually lower than normal, we have no water in the soil to evaporate, no rain so the moisture level in the air is more like Texas than a normal Iowa summer. Because of the low RH the plants and soil lose moisture faster to the air than normal. Plants (grass) are comfy in high humidity, just the opposite of us humans. We would have very high Evapotranspiration right now if we actually had any moisture in the soil to evaporate, the reality is that we dont.

Bottom line is that I would highly reccomend watering your lawn if at all possible within reason. If you live in the country or have a 5 acre yard its really not an option for most. If you live in the city and have a normal sized lawn I would reccomend watering substantially (around 3/4-1inch) per week. This seems like a lot, the reality is that you are working with nearly zero reserve so it is much more important than if you were watering in early May when soil moisture was fairly adequate.

I have no idea what you are talking about. First, much of Texas is very humid, worse than Iowa. Second, even though there haven't been any weather systems or very much rain doesn't mean that the humidity can't be high. The humidity comes up from the gulf of Mexico and the weather systems come from the west (normally).

What I was saying is that I'm from a dry climate so in my experience grass will come back. Where Des Moines is 3 inches under for July, we are 3 inches over, so what you have received for rain this month is what we normally receive. What you are getting for RH levels (monthly average of 46%) we normally get lower in the 30s. The big temp swings at night of 25 to 30 degrees (which is a indication of low moister levels) we normally have more wild swings of 40 degrees or more (on July 12 we had a swing of 50 degrees).

Although this is my experience I do acknowledge that it is a different climate and like any plants or animals, grass will adapt for the climate. So yes, to my knowledge grass will return at least in Washington it would. In Iowa where the grass usually doesn't have to be watered ever, I don't know.

 

[BoxsterCy]

If I could I would send this forecast for my city south down I-35 for you.

 

[CyCrazy]

If I could I would send this forecast for my city south down I-35 for you.

Ya that would be great! I ran the rain total numbers from Jan 1st to now a couple a days ago and Ames is 7 inches under the average per year.

 

[isucy86]

I'd Listen to the Turf Expert from ISU

I saw the story on the DSM TV station also with the ISU turf expert. I hadn't been watering up that point but if he says 3-4 more weeks of drought and lawns will be dead without water, I'm gonna listen. Cheaper than having to re-sod.

 

[CyBer]

I havent and won't water my yard. Just wait it out after a couple of good soaking rains it will be green again. On the plus side I have not mowed my yard in over a month.

It doesn't rain in Iowa anymore I don't know if you got the memo.