Can the summer heat kill my grass permanently?

Question

We have received almost no rain and had very hot temperatures. I have not watered my grass. Now, when I walk on the grass, it sounds like I am stepping on dry needles that crunch under my feet. Am I in danger of losing my grass permanently?

Answer 1

It depends on the type grass(where you live). Not all grass is drought tolerant that's why you see many different types available for different areas of the country.Find out what type you have ..then go from there.Do a google or yahoo search of the type you have and that should answer your question.I live in the south and my centipede grass does bounce back after a dry period. Dormancy is the grass plants natural response to survive periods of inadequate water.If a dormant lawn goes several weeks or a month without water, it typically has a hard time recovering.As a rule of thumb try to get at least 1/2 inch of water on the lawn after several weeks of drought then a 1/2 inch every few weeks after that and as long as the drought continues. These waterings are intended to keep the underground portions of the lawn alive, you will not see much greening above ground, till the drought ends.

Answer 2

grass is designed to go dormit and then return to life once the rains come.  

Answer 3

If  you are not living in AZ, NM, NV or other desert area, The grass just became dormant, that will come back to life after the rain.  

Answer 4

Grass does go dormant & stop growing at times. However, yes the grass can literally DIE from lack of water for too long. Eventually the grass will basically turn brown, slow down in growing & then you will see patches of dirt here & there in your yard where the grass used to be. It will eventualy grow back after it gets waterbecause even though the grass is gone ther is still the nutrients & seed in the ground.

But if you are worried about the condition of the grass now. The best thing to do is water it. Even if its only 20 mins every other day. Attach your hose to a sprinkler so you don't have to stand there with it. After your grass has had a few weeks of normal watering & is starting to look better, you can then think about fertilizing it with granual fertilizer. You can pick up a bag at any lawn care store, (walmart, homedepot, lowes, target,) But DO NOT put fertilizer on it unless you can then continue to water it afterwards. The fertilizer can litterally burn the grass if its not getting watered.

If you are worried about water conservation there are ways to basically train your grass to need less water, therefore having to use water less. Set a schedule where you water with a sprinkler for 20 mins every other day, then after a few weeks cut the time back to 15 mins. After a few more weeks cut the days down to only 2 a week. Therefore in the end you are watering for a total of 30 mins a weeks.

Make sure your sprinlker is hitting all points in your grass or else you will end up with brown patches. If you do end up with dead spots you can also buy a bag of grass seed to sprinkle into those areas & the grass will grow back as long as it is watered.