Dealing with Weather Extremes

From Deluge to Drought 

Weather is one thing we still can't control. And when we have to deal with extremes like drought or flooding rains, we realize just how little control we have. We just have to make the best of it.

While drought is a serious matter and certainly an inconvenience, storms and flooding rains are downright dangerous. Preparing for storms is something we all can do while there often isn't much we can do about drought. Let's look at some weather-related yard care issues and how we manage them.

When it rains too much

Heavy, frequent rains generally won't kill your lawn. They can cause rapid growth, and you may be forced to delay cutting until the rain stops and your grass dries out. Even if you are faced with a fast-growing lawn, follow the rule of cutting no more than one-third of the grass blade in any single cutting. Mow the lawn again in a couple of days to get it back to a manageable height.

Water can harm your lawn if you experience serious flooding or allow it to pool on the grass for several days due to drainage issues. A submerged lawn doesn't get the oxygen it needs to grow, and if covered by water for about one week, it will die. If you have experienced a serious flood where the yard has been submerged for a week or more, there's not much you can do except replace the damaged lawn. If you have a standing water issue whenever you have a heavy rain, that's something you can and should fix.

After a heavy rain, mark drainage problem areas in your lawn with stakes or small flags. Once your yard dries out, study the contour of your yard to figure out why the water is pooling in certain spots. Regrading the area will likely be necessary so the water travels into a swale or ditch (not on your neighbor's lawn!). It usually doesn't cost anything to have a landscaper come out to give you an opinion on what needs to be done. You may decide that you need to divert the water into a French drain - a channel filled with gravel - or perhaps add drainage tile, which is actually a flexible plastic pipe with perforations in it which you bury to capture and move the water elsewhere. Make a date to deal with this issue this summer.

Toasty Hot and Dry Weather

A drought is generally defined as at least 2-3 weeks without any moisture combined with temperatures above 70 degrees, sometimes soaring into the 90s or higher. Heat combined with lack of water during your lawn's growing season can create problems, especially if you have water restrictions where you live.

There are two basic approaches to managing your lawn under drought conditions. You either keep watering each week to keep the grass growing, or you stop watering altogether and let the lawn go dormant. The dormant lawn may look straw-like in a prolonged dry spell, but don't be tempted one day to give it a little sip of water once you've made the "no watering" decision. That little one-time sip will trigger the lawn to wake up again and will actually weaken it more when more water isn't forthcoming. Just leave it alone and wait for Mother Nature to help out. Once the dry weather ends, see how your lawn comes back. Note that if your lawn is thin, you may have to make an herbicide application to knock back weeds that will grow in faster than your lawn to fill in the bare spots.

Actually, it's best to leave your lawn alone altogether in a drought.

• Don't apply herbicides to control weeds.
• Don't fertilize
• Don't aerate
• Do raise the mowing height of your mower if you mow at all, although you definitely will mow less often.

If you choose to water during a drought period, be sure to water efficiently. The best time to water is early in the morning when temperature and wind speed are lowest. Watering during the afternoon can waste up to 60% of the water applied.

Luckily, extreme weather is the exception and not the rule. For all of the other pleasant days, get out in your yard and enjoy it!