Mowing Your Lawn for Drought

A lawn repair at Lehi city hall. Repairing turf is very water
costly and should be avoided durring water restrictions
and hot periods.

With the ongoing drought in Utah I thought a little advice on preventing mowing from damaging Kentucky bluegrass is in order.

Most folks understand that drought causes stress on turf grass and many other plants. What they don't realize is that their weekly ritual of mowing and trimming can be just as damaging to their lawns. When these stresses hit a lawn it needs more water to help it recover from the damage.

So what to do to reduce lawn stress and damage? Try these tips:

• Set the mower height to 3" or more. This gives your grass more sun energy to heal and to send roots down deep to find deep water.
• Drought stressed bluegrass will grow more slowly, so it does not need to be mowed as frequently. As long as you take off one third or less of the grass leaf when mowing, it won't hurt to mow every two weeks. Mowing even less frequently may be possible.
• Keep your blade sharp. A dull blade shreds the grass and requires more water for the grass to recover. If the blade is checked every time the mower is used it never becomes a problem.
• Get a mulch mower and use the mulching feature. The small grass clippings will break down and add carbon to the soil. The carbon will help slow down evaporation so water can go to the lawn instead. Mulch mowing does not create a thatch problem, it actually helps solve it.

If this list looks familier, it should. These are the same recommendations that everyone should be familier with for creating a healthy strong lawn in normal years.

It is also never too late to look at reducing or eliminating turf!

Tips for a Green Lawn During a Drought

Lehi City hall during the 2013 drought.  In a bad year,
governments need to take the lead in conserving water!

I am not a fan of huge lawns, but that doesn't matter because they are already here and most people like them. What I hate most about lawns is the way people water them. Too often as I walk down the street I see water running over sidewalks and down gutters. This is bad enough on a normal year in the desert, but in a drought it is criminal!

Below are a few tips to get the most out of your lawn without using extra water.

• Switch from impact heads (old fashioned rainbird sprinklers) and spray nozzles to rotor heads and mini rotor nozzles. Rotors are found in nearly every hardware store, but for the minis you will need to go to a professional sprinkler shop. These shops are always glad to help you, but you may have to wait for the help.
• Fix any broken lines, heads, and nozzles. If you have leaks you are letting money run down the gutter.
• Adjust your sprinklers so that all of the water hits the lawn rather than the sidewalk or house.
• Water slow and deep, the rotors and mini rotors are made to do this. 
• On sandy soils water will move through quickly, so watering deep will take less time than on clay. On clay and loam soils you should be able to water only once a week if you can get the water deep enough.
• Get a screwdriver with an 8" blade to test how deep your water is going. Eight inches is about how far down the feeder roots for bluegrass go, so that is how far you are trying to water.
• Be willing to accept some brown spots on the lawn. Brown during a drought year is a sign of civic leadership!

Good luck, and remember, you can always plant something that uses less water than turf grass.

Utah water restrictions and what to do about them

This is a water feature at Lehi city hall. This photo was taken after water
restrictions went in place. Seems like a bad time to be using water strictly
for show.

It shouldn't be a surprise to Utahns that they live in the second driest state in the US. But every drought year, the cities and residents panic and flail as water restrictions are implemented.

Most of this hassle could have been avoided with a little planning. Specifically by designing gardens that are drought resistant. Here are some planning tips:

1. Catch and use runoff water. Quite often extra water can be stored in the ground. This includes snow and rain that hits the roof,  runoff from hardscapes, and water running on sloped ground.
2. Choose the right plants for the right part of the landscape. Make sure you pay attention to needs for sun and shade. And remember, if you caught enough runoff, you might have enough to plant some thirsty plants and keep them happy.
3. You may still need an irrigation system, but it will need to be designed it to limit the water thrown into the air and to be used occasionally rather than every day or even every week.
4. Go ahead and plant a well designed vegetable garden and orchard. If you water correctly and use the produce, you will still have an overall water use reduction in the environment.

I know this is new to many people, but just because it is new to you doesn't mean it is untested. In fact, everything I am talking about I started using in designs over ten years ago. 

This is Salvia nemorosa, a very drought
resistant plant. This one has been growing
for two years with just rain and snow.

To help you get started, here is a list of terms and phrases that you can search online and at your local library:

• Waterwise
• Permaculture
• Drip irrigation
• Swale
• Utah Native Plants
• Xeriscape™

If you need some extra help feel free to contact me at utahsustainablegardening@gmail.com.