PHEW IT'S HOT!
By Cody Wynn
Well we made it through the first heat wave but did your lawn? I’ve up until lately, noticed a lot of Drought stressed lawns. The picture above is exactly what you’ve likely seen in areas of your lawn. Notice I only said areas. Almost 9 times outta 10 the lawn looked fine but there would be these Orange to Blackish areas of the lawn that looked like its dead or dying. Typically its soil related or slope related. Poor and compacted soils dry out much faster. Southern slopes tend to recive the sunniest and hottest points of the day. Curvulara Blight is the technical term. Its when the soil temperatures reach a certain level and the roots go into a self preservation mode. The roots will no longer provide nutrients to the crown and blades in an effort to keep itself alive. Some dishonest companies out there will tell you ” A fungicide is needed for this to recover but we need you to water this in everyday”. Well guess what simply watering the lawn will do? You guessed it!! By simply watering those areas of Orange and Black will start recovering and typically pretty quick. That’s because the Roots saved the plant from complete decline. And you’ve released the most important thing that living organisms need to thrive. The easiest way to understand water’s importance is putting yourself in the lawns shoes. Imagine sitting in a lawn chair for 3wks without water you’d look and feel like crap too. That’s the point I’m wanting to drive home. Watering amounts should equal atleast 1″ a week. So the goal is to fill a Tuna Fish sized can once a week. Water in the early morning hours never at night. This will lessen evaporation and decreases fungus potentials.
