06/17/2024
Please see this excellent post from my friends in the Ohio market. They are going through the same heat wave we are!
If you do not or can not water your lawn, that is okay. Expect dormancy though. All customers received an email this morning with simple watering instructions.
Most importantly, it is best to *stay off the lawn* during heat waves! Do not mow until temps return to normal or we receive steady rain.
It certainly has been a strange year weather wise so far. Our growing season is roughly 3 weeks ahead of where it normally is for june 14th.
We have seen some strange weather patterns in previous weeks and I would like to talk about our upcoming hot dry spell. Starting Sunday June 16 we will be headed into what could be a record week for extremely hot temperatures.
Temperatures are forecasted to be above 90 degrees for at least 6 days.
What this means to your lawns and plants is extreme water loss due to Evapotranspiration or ET.
Evapotranspiration is the name given to the total water loss to the atmosphere from a land surface, usually expressed in units of depth; it includes the water v***r ev***rating from the soil surface and from the liquid water on plant surfaces together with that transpired from within plant surfaces.
Plants breathe through a process called Transpiration.
This occurs when the leaf surface becomes dry either from hot sun or wind. At this time the plant basically asks the roots to send up more water to the leaves to keep them hydrated.
When there is no more water for the roots to send the plant becomes dehydrated and starts its stress phase.
Evapotranspiration occurs when the ground and the plant both become dehydrated due to atmospheric conditions ie sun, wind, and extremely high temperatures.
Some mature plants will be able to survive short spells of this while others may not survive.
According to Dr. Tyler Carr from Ohio State we will be loosing 1.6” of water next week to ET. Lawns generally require 1” of water over the course of a week. This will be significantly more in the coming week than the usual requirements.
If you haven’t started your regular watering routine yet like I have we suggest you get started a.s.a.p..
To achieve 1” per week I run our sprinklers generally 45 minutes per zone or area 3 times per week to achieve adequate soil moisture. This is for larger areas of turf. For smaller areas like tree lawns and side yards I do it for 15-20 minutes.
For those of you that are unable to water or do not wish to that is ok, but I would expect to do some fall seeding or a lawn replacement at the appropriate time.
Plants are also going to suffer greatly from this so if you have a favorite shrub or tree you may want to show it some love in the coming week.
The lawn below we see on our regular dog walk and is a classic example of drought stress that has already started.
Please resist mowing until it rains again and stay off your lawns in general.
