On a good day, Ronald Wilson mows about 10 lawns, and so far
he doesn’t see any effects of the ongoing Georgia drought. “The
lawns we’ve been cutting have been looking pretty and green,”
said the Tifton, Ga., lawn maintenance worker. “There’s no dry to
them.”
But with the current drought expected to continue,
Georgia lawns could have a hard time staying alive this summer. A
University of Georgia scientist says homeowners have a number of
ways they can stretch their rain and irrigation further.
One way is to beat up their lawns. No, it’s not lawn abuse.
It’s a machine called an aerator, which punches holes in the
soil.
Getting Water to
Roots
The holes help water get down to the roots, where turf
grasses can use it, said Gil Landry, a turf scientist with the
UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
“By aerating, we get more water into the soil,”
Landry said. “It loosens the soil, too.”
Improving water movement into the soil, he said, encourages
deeper rooting, too. And with deeper roots, your lawn won’t need
watering as often and will be less vulnerable to drought.
Use a commercial-grade aerator. “You’ll probably have
to rent one,” Landry said. “But it really helps the
grass survive a drought.”
Watch the Grass
Another key to helping your lawn use water better, Landry
said, is to watch the grass. You may not be used to checking
whether the lawn needs water. But the grass will show you.
“It starts to turn slightly off-color,” he said.
“Slightly gray — that’s the first indication.”
When the grass needs water, it needs a good drink.
“Science tells us to water once per week,” he said,
“or the least frequently, the better.”
Water Deeply
Watering your lawn a few minutes each day only moistens a
thin layer near the soil surface. “The roots grow in this
shallow layer,” he said, “instead of going deeper into
the soil.
“One good watering of about an inch a week encourages
the grass to grow deeper roots,” he said, “improving
its chances of surviving a drought.”
Water the lawn at night to keep from losing so much water to
evaporation. “It’s best to water after sundown, when we have
little or no wind,” he said, “or early in the morning
before 10 o’clock.”
Adjust Mower
If the drought deepens this summer, Landry says to adjust
the cutting height of the lawnmower upward a notch, or about a
half-inch higher than usual.
“This gives the grass more leaf,” he said.
“It allows it to develop more roots and withstand the stress
of a drought better.”
Don’t just pour on the fertilizer, either. Test your soil to
see if the lawn needs fertilizer, Landry said. Then make
decisions based on the soil test results. If the drought deepens,
don’t fertilize as much, he said, since the grass won’t be
growing as fast.
