Help Your Lawn Recover from Last Year’s Drought

Kansas City went through a severe drought  in 2012. With these conditions, your lawn has become water stressed. This will cause many lawns to go dormant and turn yellowish or brown. It’s possible for your lawn to then go from dormant to dead.The easiest way to determine signs of drought stress is through the color of your grass. If your grass has discolored to yellow or tan, your lawn is experiencing drought dormancy. Drought dormancy can be somewhat good news because it hasn’t died, it just simply stopped growing. Once you have determined that your lawn needs some extra care in recovering from the drought, it’s time to dethatch. Thatch is a layer of dead organic matter, likes leaves and grass clippings, between the green matter and the surface of the soil. It’s important to remove these after a drought so that new grass doesn’t root into the thatch, but into the soil. It’s important to remove these during or after a drought so that new grass doesn’t root into the thatch, but into the soil. Once the thatch has been removed, you can begin to aerate the soil. In other words, puncture holes in your lawn. This way, any moisture will go directly to your lawn’s roots.To begin replenishing the nutrients that were lost during the drought, feed your lawn with a fertilizer developed for grass. This will especially help with the bare spots. If rain isn’t in the forecast, it’s time to start watering deeply once or twice a week. As the temperature rises, begin to increase the length of time you are watering.Now you’re probably wondering- to mow or not to mow? It’s ok to mow if you mow high and mulch your grass clippings. This will also help retain any moisture.Once your lawn begins to slowly recover from its dormancy, you can start seeding and treating the weeds. If you have any further questions about recovering your lawn from a drought or other lawn care, contact KC Landscape Curbing, Inc.