The sun has absolutely obliterated my back yard lawn. Will increased watering restore it or what can I do? Southern Ontario Canada

by Theopalowl

33 Comments

  1. brownsfan250

    Wait. Until fall. That’s about it. If you try to ‘revive’ it you will stress it even more. Its dormant until soil temp goes down.

  2. ElectronicAd6675

    It will take 5x more water to bring it back at this point. Might as well wait and let nature do that for you.

  3. thatbilalguy

    Just let it go dormant. Why waste water when the temps are in the 90s? It’ll bounce back in the fall.

  4. just_sun_guy

    If you aren’t receiving rain weekly then make sure to put down about an inch each week to keep the roots alive. 1 or 2 deep waterings are better than watering each day. The goal is to keep the roots alive. It’ll spring back in the fall when temps drop. I go through the same thing every year and it is very hard to watch your hard work get fried by the sun during the peak of summer. This year we’ve gotten too much rain and high temps making it really humid (North Carolina) and have to combat fungal growth which is causing brown spots all around my lawn.

  5. LegendaryBronco_217

    Same problem here.

    Last mow was June 11. Only rain was a heavy downpour on June 13 that resulted in .25 in.

    Supposed to get rain on Sat so I was thinking water for a few hours on Friday so the rain actually soaks in.

    Definitely skipping any summer fertilizer applications.

  6. Brilliant_Comb_1607

    Technically yes, water will restore it. But one sprinkler and one hose won’t be enough.

  7. CleMike69

    Nope wait it out at this point. My neighbor scalped his yard right before a week of 90plus degree weather and it’s cooked now. Brilliant actually since he’s done mowing for the foreseeable future

  8. Neil Young? JK. Water it in increments instead of 20 to 30 minutes at a time. The clay/loam turns into a full sponge in about 10 minutes. Water it for 10, let it sit for about 20 and water again.

  9. Clamps55555

    Everyone wants a short grass lawn. But not everyone is willing to water it enough to keep it alive.

  10. the_atomic_punk18

    I thought it would still be snow covered eh?

  11. Weekly_Mycologist523

    If you’ve been dealing with a drought, you should water anyway to prevent it from dying. I’m not sure it’ll green up again until temps cool down.

  12. Plantguysteve

    Pretty sure most people here are gonna tell you to let it go dormant and not water it which is fine, but if you want a green lawn this time of year you gonna need to water. Up to you. 3-4 times per week, 20-30 minutes at a time will get it greening up in a week or 2. Don’t fertilize and pray for rain.

  13. catdogpigduck

    you need to find grass that will grow in your area/climate

  14. NeilC6565

    I’ve got an acre of frontage just like this in eastern Ontario. We have not had measurable rain in six weeks, total drought along with relentless sun. As we are on well water we have no choice but to ride it out and hope it recovers when the temps come down.

  15. ProcedureNo6946

    If you can’t pull it out easily by hand, it is dormant not dead. Give it a try.

  16. FrankGallagherz

    Save your water. I spent a lot for no results

  17. beezusglue

    This is *most* of us in Southern Ontario right now. Solidarity.

  18. AndreyevnaM

    I’m in southern Alberta. I only ever water my lawn between the hours of 7pm – 5am. Otherwise it fries it. My grass is greener than most of my block. That said, I have religiously fertilized and we spread peat and sand in early spring.

    Edit: Come spring, rent a dethatcher, it’s a power rake that looks like a lawn mower a little bit. That’ll pull out all the dead grass, then seed, and spread peat! That’ll help retain moisture and ensure your seeds are germinating!

  19. Decent-Respond-5053

    Curious how low you mow? I literally just saw a post comparing mowing low vs high and high looked much better

  20. Think_Jackfruit135

    She’s gone to sleep. She’ll be back with the rains.

  21. ijustworkatGlobex

    If my new sod looks like this, is it dormant or toast?

    Sod guys laid it down when I wasn’t home on the hottest day we had this year and my security cam shows it drying out in a matter of hours. Been watering but nothing looks like it is recovering 🙁

  22. FloridaManTPA

    Stop mowing, don’t fertilize, don’t water.

    There is nothing you can do right now, next year, leave it long and water at night, depending on your grass it might survive.

  23. Adrenaline-Junkie187

    Ours got obliterated this year. Were the only house in the neighborhood without irrigation so theres not much we could do. Getting some installed in a couple months so at least we can avoid it going forward. My wife is really upset because we spent a lot of time getting out lawn back into great shape only to have it end up looking worse than ever. lol

  24. MostEscape6543

    Don’t listen to the people telling you to “let it go dormant”. It’s already dormant and it is actively dying. “Dormant” means the grass stops growing to conserve resources. When it turns brown, it is nearing the end of its ability to remain alive while dormant.

    Based on color it can be saved but you basically need to water it all, for a few hours in each spot. Tonight. You have just a few days before it’s dead. One, good, deep watering will bring it back, but you will need to do it again next week unless you get a bunch of rain, or else you’ll be back here again. Sorry.

    Or, you can let it die and see what makes it through the drought. Normally once some of the grass is dead, there is enough water to go around for the remaining patches (ask me how I know) to make it through, and you can overseed in the fall. But, seed is expensive and you’ll have to do a lot of watering if you want it to all grow and have a lawn again, plus that grass is baby grass for a whole year and won’t be very drought resistant until the year after next.

    If it was me, I would try to save it. $50-$100 in water is well worth it for me to avoid the same amount of water and seed in the fall.

  25. Statement-Tiny

    Sorry for your loss!!
    I wish I had some suggestions, but I just stopped by to congratulate you on having a better grasp on the definition of OBLITERATION than some!

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