Drought of 2012

This past summer the state of Iowa was blasted with record temperatures and very little rain.  Mowing companies had a great spring, but have had a very rough summer and fall.  To give you an idea of what we dealt with in Waukee, IA.  Below is a house that rarely water their yard this summer and the effect that it had.

The first picture is from June 5th, 2011.  Granted it's late spring, but that particular summer there was very little need to water the lawns on a regular basis as we received sufficient rainfall.

The next picture is the same property from this past September (2012)

Will this lawn recover?  Most likely, as will most of the drought stricken lawns.  Turning brown and going dormant are defense mechanisms to protect itself from these conditions and once the rain returns most lawns will recover.

However, what should you do to help the lawn along and speed up the recovery process? Once the rain returns, make sure to fertilize your lawn.  Grass needs nutrients and just fertilizing without any water is like throwing money down the toilet.  In addition, some of the grass may not return or your lawn may return thinner than years past, so it is really important to over-seed your lawn to help thicken the grass and green it up quicker.