What we’re noticing:
- It’s hot and dry! This is causing:
- Heat/drought stress and
- Disease
- Exactly what we warned could happen 9 days ago is happening. Seriously; the trend lines line up exactly with what we were worried would happen.
- Before the end of May; we hit drought status. That might be a speed record 😬
- “It rained this week?..”
- Yup, but when we’re at inches of deficit and should be getting over an inch per week this time of year; that 0.1″ to 0.5″ over the entire week didn’t change the scope of our situation much at all
- “The lawns still look okay…”
- They are riding the nutrient reserves from last fall and natural Spring growth. We’re going to have rough looking lawns soon without appropriate mowing and then watering. Woodbury has already severely limited lawn watering (another speed record) and more cities are likely to follow.
- Summing the Spring up so far: A lawn care peer posted this humorous post. MN Spring 23 was heavy snow in mid-April, dramatic weed pressure (from the years of them thriving in the heat/drought) and then into lawns needing to be skipped because they are too dry and not growing – ALL IN 6 WEEKS!
What we’re doing:
- We’re on our next round of applications which includes premium granular fertilizer that feeds the lawn when and exactly how much it needs. If we’re hot and dry; the fertilizer just waits for the correct conditions 😎
What you can be doing:
- Mow high!
- The lower you mow from your highest setting; the more water you’ll need to be applying
- Watch for hot/dry spots that will need water before the rest of your lawn and/or more water
- Take our Watering eLearning
- There isn’t anything that should be done about the disease; it’s cosmetic and normal temps will cure it. Ensure you’re watering at the right times.
