Does your grass look dead? What are the differences between a dead and a dormant lawn? A brown lawn does not always mean that your lawn is dead, it could just be dormant! Dormancy is essentially the lawn going to sleep.
Summer dormancy occurs when the grass is stressed out by intense heat and drought. It can stay in this dormant state safely for 3-4 weeks without dying, although intense drought will kill it over time. Dormant turf is not very pleasant to look at with its unsightly brown tinge. Fortunately, the grass will green up once conditions improve.
How to Revive Dormant Grass
It can be tough to determine whether or not your lawn is dormant or if it is actually dead. A good way to determine if it is dormant is by watering in the early morning. Water it regularly and heavily for a couple of days. This should bring your lawn out of dormancy. Also try to minimize the foot traffic on your lawn, as foot traffic can damage the root systems on dormant grass. Hold back on mowing your lawn, as longer blades of grass will provide shade for the roots. The longer blades keep the moisture from evaporating in the heat as quickly.
Keep an Eye on Daily Progress
After watering there may be some patches or areas that stay brown. If there are many areas that need to be replaced or the areas are quite large, sodding is your best bet. If the areas are small and few in number, reseeding may be the way to go. Call us at First Response Lawncare. We can help you determine how your yard is coming along and calibrate your irrigation system to be optimized to bring your lawn back to life.
Checking your lawn before deciding it is dead could potentially save you time as well as money. Be sure you give it proper attention for a few days before writing it off! Re-sodding or reseeding certain areas is more cost effective than replacing your entire lawn!
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