FILE - In this July 16, 2014 file photo, what was once a marina sits high and dry due to Lake Mead receding in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Arizona. Arizona won't have all the pieces of a Colorado River drought plan wrapped up by a March 4 deadline set by the federal government, state water officials said Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. It's the latest hurdle threatening the seven-state plan to take less water from the drought-starved Colorado River, which provides water for 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of farmland. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
SALT LAKE CITY — It’s not the year of the lush, green lawn. Amid a drought, this is the summer of “survival watering,” and you can keep your lawn — yellow, yes — alive if you follow the expert’s advice.
Horticulturist Taun Beddes of USU Extension joined KSL NewsRadio about how to keep a lawn green, without breaking the local rules on watering during Utah’s exceptional drought.
Utah.gov issued this alert:
Due to the severe drought, we recommend watering 2 times per week in Northern Utah and 3 times a week in Southern Utah to help extend the water supply. The goal during extreme drought conditions isn’t lush landscapes but rather “survival watering” to keep high-value plants alive like trees and shrubs. Grass is resilient and can survive with as little as 1 inch of water a month.
Salt Lake County Water Conservation: Did you know watering your lawn is more effective at night? You lose a lot of water due to evaporation during the hot sun of the day – as much as 20%-30%.
But lawn care expert Matt Maurer, owner of PureLawn Lawn Services, tells Popular Mechanics: “A wet lawn at night is the perfect condition for fungus to grow.”
Can nightly watering breed fungus, Mr. Beddes?
“It can, if you’re watering daily or nightly in this case, because the water never completely evaporates and it creates humid conditions especially if you have compacted soil or a lot of thatch*, but twice a week at night, you should not develop fungal diseases because the lawn is drying out in between those your irrigation events,” he said.
*Thatch is a layer of organic matter that accumulates on a lawn around the base of the grass plants.
Lawns in a native environment are green in spring and autumn from natural precipitation grass goes dormant in summer when temperatures rise about 90 degrees.
“As long as [lawns] are getting about a half-inch to one inch of water monthly, the roots and crowns stay very healthy, and the tops just brown out,” Beddes said.
He added that twice weekly watering is enough to keep your lawn alive and “actually quiet green.”
Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, a.s well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.