Tips and Tricks for Dealing With the Dry Weather

The hot, dry weather can be tough on your lawn and plants. With little rain predicted in the upcoming forecast, the tips below can help you take care of and protect your lawn in these conditions. 

• Heat- and drought-stressed grass will recover if kept healthy and generally maintained.    
• Give the lawn one to two inches of water once a week. As a rule of thumb: Running sprinklers for one hour provides one inch of water to the area it covers, two inches in two hours, etc.
• Be careful not to overwater. Overwatering produces shallow roots, making it more vulnerable to heat or pests.
• The best time to water is early morning, because less water is lost to evaporation.
• The worst time to water is in the evening, when too little water is lost to evaporation. Diseases are more likely to develop in a wet lawn.
• Raise that mower and let grass blades grow to 3 inches in height. Taller blades have deeper roots. Also, higher blades provide more shade for soil, and shade also has the benefit of stunting the growth of weeds.
• Maintain the lawn, watching for weeds. Weed growth can increase thanks to the heat. Weeds tend to be more resilient.