Lawn Stress Relief: How to Identify and Treat Heat-Stressed Grass in Idaho

Summer is supposed to be stress-free, right? Camping, baseball games, cookouts, afternoons by the pool. S’mores!

So why is your grass so stressed out?

Well, it’s hot and dry. Two big lawn stress factors. Grass hates that.

How do you know if you have a drought-stressed lawn? And what are you supposed to do about it?

Let’s take a look:

Lawn Heat Stress: What Is It?

Heat stress happens when lawns lose too much moisture due to hot, dry weather. Cool season grasses like we have here in Idaho are especially susceptible to extreme summer heat. They prefer fall, thanks.

Not sure if your lawn is suffering drought stress? Watch for a few key signs:

Grass blade tips turn brown. They might also curl.

Brown patches form on your lawn. This is tricky, though, because other lawn problems, from bugs to lawn diseases, turn grass brown, too.

How do you identify lawn heat stress vs fungus or insects? Consult with a lawn care pro to be sure of the cause, and to be sure you’re getting proper treatment, if necessary.

“Ghost prints” appear. This sounds spooky and cool but it’s not good. When you walk across your grass, it doesn’t bounce happily back up after your foot leaves the ground.

A drought-stressed lawn lays flat and lifeless.

How to Handle Lawn Heat Stress?

Be ready to come to the rescue:

• Think ahead, before it gets too hot, and give your lawn the right fertilizer early in the season, to boost its health and heat tolerance. Hold off on fertilizing during the hottest part of summer. Your grass isn’t growing much now, so it can’t really take in the nutrients.
• Give your lawn plenty of water as summer approaches, so it goes into the season well hydrated and better able to stand up to lawn heat stress.
• Don’t trample the poor grass. When your lawn is battling hot weather, give it a break and ease off on the foot traffic.
• Mow tall. That extra length helps keep the crowns of the grass plant cool and shaded. Then it has a better chance at staying its healthy green self. Taller grass grows deeper roots, better able to reach moisture that's deeper in the soil.
• Mow early in the morning before the heat of the day. (That's more pleasant for you, too!)
• Keep that mower blade super sharp so it makes a clean, healthy cut. Dull mower blades shred the grass, and those ragged edges lose more moisture, making grass more susceptible to lawn drought stress.
• Water early in the day, so more water reaches the roots and you lose less to evaporation. Shoot for about an inch a week.

Like everything in lawn care, it's better to be prepared for a problem than to react to it.

Putting these practices in place before warm weather arrives will give your lawn a head start on surviving stressful weather.

Oh, Man, What if It’s Dead?!

Brown grass can freak you out. Does it have lawn heat stress? Did it go dormant? Is it dead?

Cool-season grasses like the varieties here in Idaho love spring and fall, happily growing faster than you can mow them.

But when that 80-degree weather stresses them out, they can enter a summer dormancy period. The grass stops growing to conserve water and nutrients — it needs to chill out.

A dormant lawn is different than a dead lawn. When your lawn is dormant, it’s not actively growing. It looks dead, but deep down, the crown of the grass is still alive.

How to tell the difference?

Grab hold of a couple clumps of grass and tug. Does it pull right up, with no root system holding it in? It’s probably dead. But dormant grass in Idaho will still have a solid root system and resist your tug.

No worries. It’ll be back.

Need Help with a Drought-Stressed Lawn? Call Lawn Buddies

A healthy lawn doesn’t just happen. It takes a lot of work, and the right knowledge, to nurture a lawn that can stand up to lawn heat stress.

Hmmm, if only you knew somebody who loves this stuff…

If you want simple, hassle-free lawn care and landscaping services in Idaho Falls or Boise, ID that offers quality core lawn care services for a healthy, impressive lawn, right through summer, it doesn’t get easier than Lawn Buddies.

No stressing about which complicated combination of lawn care services will get you strong, healthy grass.

You don’t have time to fuss with all that. It’s summer! Give yourself a break.

Welcome to one premium, six-visit lawn care program that includes everything your lawn needs to grow healthy and green.

Fertilizer, weed treatments, and grub control, all wrapped up in six visits, each perfectly timed throughout the season, so your grass is green and strong and resists lawn heat stress.

We’ve got your back.

Got a few minutes? That’s all you need to get started. You can simply fill out a form, call us at (208) 656-9131 or read more about our services. Then, kick back and relax in your healthy, thriving yard and pest-free home.