How to manage lawn in drought conditions

Drought conditions present a challenge to your lawn. You will need to decide whether you let your lawn go ‘dormant’ or keep it green. You may find that in severe drought conditions water restrictions might come into place and then your decision is effectively made for you. Using household ‘gray water’ could be an option for you if you if this is the case.

Letting your lawn go dormant is not a bad thing, nature will take its course and with proper attention it will come back. The trick is to ‘stand your ground’ if you have decided on this option and not be tempted to water it when it is turning brown. Many grasses can go dormant for two or three weeks and will come back once the rain comes back but if not you can reseed and renovate.

If you have ample water supply to see you through the drought period, you may choose to keep it green. Here it is important to water before dawn or after dark for best results (see ‘Watering’ section).

Other things to consider during a drought:

• Use less fertilizer – cutting back on nitrogen causes grass to grow slower and therefore it needs less water. Less fertilizer also lessens the risk of burning your lawn in hot, dry weather
• Mow higher – taller grass develops deeper roots and also helps shade the soil, reducing evaporation.
• Reduce the size of the lawn – i.e. water only one area and let the rest go dormant
• Avoid water runoff by watering slowly or in cycles. Slow and infrequent watering can also encourage the grass to grow deeper roots
• Keep off the grass as much as possible, this includes yourself and items such as outdoor furniture or playground equipment. This can damage the grass underneath through wear and tear. Consider moving furniture around and using different routes to do your chores to lessen the stress on your lawn.
• Let your grass clippings drop back into the lawn to help conserve soil moisture.