PARCHED

from Sherborne Times July 2023

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

It can be easy to worry about our lawns during long hot, dry spells. To stay green during the summer a lawn needs consistent rainfall, a little bit of summer fertiliser and a regular mow to keep it looking neat. However, this advice can go out of the window when the weather heats up and the rain stops.

In the UK, a drought is defined as 15 consecutive days when there is no more than 0.2mm of rain. However, it does not need to be an absolute drought for our lawns to suffer.

The first issue is the lack of rain. This will leave your lawn parched and, probably, not looking its best. The less rain we have, the drier the soil will get, and eventually, your grass will start looking yellow, and then possibly brown.

At this point, you should not use fertiliser as it will need plenty of water to soak it in and prevent it from scorching the grass and making it look worse.

In terms of mowing in these conditions, as your lawn dries out, it will essentially shut down and stop growing. It does this to conserve energy in order to survive and will therefore not need mowing.

If you participated in No Mow May or haven’t mowed your lawn for a while, and then decide to do so while it is hot, there is a strong possibility your lawn will end up looking very yellow and sorry for itself. This is simply because the lower level of the grass hasn’t had exposure to light so there has been a lack of photosynthesis, leaving it a pale colour. Give it time and it will recover.

It is important to remember that grass is a surprisingly hardy little plant and it is amazing how much it can deal with. While it can be very tempting to try to keep it green by watering every day, it is very easy to underestimate the amount of water required: during hot, dry spells, our gardens can dry up to six inches, while it takes up to an hour for water to soak down just one inch – that would require a lot of water! In line with the TGA’s (Turf Grass Growers’ Association) advice, we always advise you to save your water bill and to let it go brown. This can seem counterintuitive but as soon as it starts raining again, your grass will recover and will start looking green again.

Somewhat strangely for a company that sells turf, we always strongly advise against laying new turf in hot and dry conditions. Because our turf is grown plastic netting-free, it has a thick root bed, and it is, therefore, possible to lay at any time of year – except during extremely hot and dry weather. As turf is a living product, it needs a lot of water once laid to help it to establish which can be very expensive if there isn’t enough rain. If, however, you decide you still need to lay turf, please follow our advice: sherborneturf.co.uk

• Fully prepare the ground and give it a good soaking before laying your turf.

• Sprinkle moisture-retaining granules evenly over the soil before laying your turf.

• Sprinkle fertiliser evenly over the soil before laying your turf.

• Get the turf delivered when you are ready to lay – do not leave it out in the sun, do not cover it in a tarpaulin and do not leave it for more than a day if possible.

• If you need to leave it, place it in a cool, shaded area.

• Do not water the turf while rolled up – it will cook the grass.

• Using a board to walk on, lay and water-in no more than 20% of the turf at a time – this will make sure the turf will not dry out before you’ve finished.

• Once laid, saturate the turf – paying particular attention to the roll edges, which will dry out first.

• Water every day for the first week. If it is very hot, dry weather, water early every morning and early every evening.

• Keep the turf damp for 2-4 weeks until the lawn is well established. You can check this by trying to pull up an edge of one of the rolls – if it comes up easily, it is not established. If it stays, then the roots have been established.

• If the hot and dry weather continues then continue to water it either early in the morning or early evening – new lawns can be thirsty.

With the strategies put in place by Wessex Water it is unlikely that a hose pipe ban will be needed. However, it is important to note that, should you need to lay turf, newly laid turf is exempt from the ban for the first 28 days after being laid.

It is of course always beneficial to try to reduce your water usage when you can, such as by using grey water in your garden (as long as it does not contain harsh chemicals).