To Let Your Grass Go Dormant or Not

During the hot summer when rain is scarce, lawns need lots of water to avoid losing their green color and going dormant. The good news is brown dormant grass can recover in the cooler weather provided it was well cared for before the dry spell. Because grass needs preparation before it goes dormant, it's incumbent upon you to decide ahead of time whether to let your grass go dormant or not. 

Reasons for letting your lawn go dormant include the need to save money on the water bill or travel plans that will make it impossible for you to care for your lawn during an extended period of time.  Lawns require regular deep watering to stay green. Deep watering means one inch of water or around 600 gallons of water per 1000 sq. ft. each week. If there are local water restrictions, you're water saving conscious, or you aren't prepared to pay for that much water, you can save part of your lawn and let the rest go dormant. Other options for preventing dormancy include choosing grasses that need less water or hiring a landscaping company to add hardscape,  trees, shrubs, or gardens.

Regarding lawn dormancy, you must go one way or another. Letting lawns go in and out of dormancy will produce sparse turf, insects, and disease. Avoid the habit of letting the grass grow brown, watering it back to green, and letting it go brown again.

Prepare your lawn for dormancy. As the hot weather approaches, get in the habit of applying fewer but deeper water applications that soak in up to 6 inches. This will encourage deep root growth that will help your grass survive the dormant period. Stop fertilizing. Nitrogen applications in the absence of water may cause top growth, but will harm your grasses' roots.

When you are ready to let the grass go dormant, simply stop watering and allow it to go brown. Cool weather grasses, the types that turns green shortly after the last snow melts, can stand up to two weeks at a time with no water before losing their green color. Warm weather grasses, the types that turn green in April or May, can go a lot longer. During dormancy avoid stressing the lawn with foot travel during the hot daylight hours. Mowing may be unnecessary as dormant grass stops growing.  Water about once a month to a depth of 5-6 inches to keep the dormant grass alive. As a rule of thumb, don't let your grass go longer than 6 weeks without giving it at least one inch of water. The length of time grass can stay in dormancy and still recover depends on its genetics. When the weather turns cooler or when you know you can begin applying regular amounts of water for the rest of the summer, begin the normal watering schedule of at least 1 inch of water a week. Green color should return after the second regular watering.

If you have decided to care for your lawn all summer and not let it enter dormancy, look carefully for indications of stress. Signs of stress include loss of the blade's glossy look; inability of the grass to bounce back when someone treads on it; or dry, hard soil. Don't wait till your grass starts to wither. At the first sign of stress increase weekly watering to as much as 2 inches; that should save your lawn.

Resources: For outstanding lawn care in the Yorktown Heights and Westchester County, New York area contact the Turf Barbers; 914 302 2469; 2929 Quinlan Street Yorktown Heights, NY 10598