Did your lawn go dormant due to summer heat? Here’s what Kansas experts recommend

The record-breaking heat experienced in parts of Kansas this summer may have caused your grass to turn dormant.

And you wouldn’t be alone, according to horticulture experts with Kansas State University.

“After several months of intense heat and drought stress, many tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass lawns across Kansas have entered a dormant state,” K-State’s Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources said in its weekly newsletter. Cool-season grasses, including tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass, are the most commonly used grasses in the Midwest.

Dormant lawns turn brown and may look dead, but the grass is actually still alive and requires less water to survive. Cool-season lawns can survive for up to three weeks without water, experts say, or up to 8 weeks with “minimal irrigation.”

“While early fall (September) is typically the ideal time to fertilize, core aerate, overseed, and perform other important cultural practices on cool-season lawns, these practices will have limited benefit while lawns are still dormant and under continuing heat or drought stress,” the department said. “Instead of jumping into fall lawn maintenance, consider delaying fall maintenance practices until weather conditions improve or provide additional care to alleviate sources of stress.”

How to recover dormant lawns in Kansas

Here’s what K-State horticulture experts recommend you should do if you’re wanting to help your lawn recover from summer dormancy this fall:

Water your dormant lawn one to two weeks before starting any fall lawn care. “Apply water slowly and deeply, irrigating to provide moisture 6 to 8 inches deep in the soil,” they said. “This requires approximately 1.5 inches of water to accomplish,” so it’s recommended to supplement irrigation with natural rainfall.

Maximize the rain. “Water moves more readily into moist soil versus dry soil, so maximize small rainfalls by applying 1/4 to ½ inch additional water immediately after a rain.”

Prevent overwatering your grass. Soil should be allowed to partially dry before providing more water to avoid stressing your lawn.

Limit foot traffic and mow less often.

Be patient. “Traditional scheduling of routine maintenance may need to be delayed a few weeks to allow for temperatures to cool and more favorable weather patterns to return,” experts said. “In many cases, patience will provide lawns with the conditions necessary for recovery.”

An expert’s guide to fall lawn care in Kansas: ‘The most important time of year’

With extreme heat, is it still the right time to seed lawn? What KS expert says

Is it too late to control crabgrass taking over your lawn? What a KS expert says