Gardening by Judith Adam How to drought-proof a lawn Most conscientious gardeners share a memory of puzzling over a patchy, drought-stricken, browned-out lawn and thinking – how did this happen? Heroic gestures such as running the sprinkler all night won’t reverse these damaged conditions caused by prolonged summer heat and water scarcity. It’s smarter to drought-proof the lawn beginning in spring, in advance of mid-summer heat and moisture stress; and that’s something which you can do right now. Strengthening the lawn makes it more resilient under stress conditions. Manicured front lawns, neglected boulevard strips and rough cottage grass patches will all benefit from any and all of these practices: Mow the lawn less frequently, about every 10 days, and keep blade height high. Tall grass blades shade the soil and help to keep heat out of the root zone. Allow cut blades to remain on the lawn as a natural mulch, preventing direct sunlight from reaching the soil. Reduce nitrogen fertilizer. Too much nitrogen encourages thatch growth, which can prevent moisture from penetrating the soil to the roots. Fertilizer products have three numbers on the package, indicating their nutrient analysis. The first number is nitrogen. Find a fertilizer with a first number no greater than 20. Never fertilize during high heat and drought; instead, wait for cooler weather with normal rain patterns. Water deeply when direct sunlight is off of the lawn. Avoid oscillator devices that hurl droplets high in the air and lose much water to evaporation. Use a sprinkler that broadcasts large drops of water in a low arc. Over-seed in the spring and early autumn with drought-resistant grasses such as perennial rye grass and fescue. Cover seeded areas with peat moss or top soil and sprinkle with water every day. Include white clover seed (Trifolium repens, sold in the grass seed section of garden centres, or from online seed sources) to produce a green leaf that won’t brown out under stress. Clover will also contribute nitrogen into the soil. Core aerate lawns in the autumn or spring to improve drainage and introduce more oxygen into the root zone. CSANews | SPRING 2022 | 47
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