Caring For Your Lawn During North Dakota’s Scorching Drought

It's weird, in my younger days I could care less about my lawn.  In fact, I would've welcomed a drought, because it would've meant less time mowing and more time for softball and fishing.

Now, every time I see a little patch of yellow on my lawn, I'm ready to call in a Black Hawk helicopter to drop 100 of gallons of water on my lawn, like we're putting out a grass fire.  I'm not sure if that makes me older and wiser or just plain crazy.  Probably somewhere in between.

As lawns yellow and brown up all over Bismarck Mandan and the rest of North Dakota, what can you do to save your lawn?  I do have a few tips to save a drought stricken lawn courtesy of Popular Mechanics.

The best thing you can do is water your lawn.  However, unless you have a well of some kind, that can get very expensive.  I'm dreading paying my water bill today to be honest.  If you are watering your lawn, you should continue to do it on a regular basis.  If you only water your lawn occasionally, you may hurt your lawn worse.  Grass that goes brown/yellow might actually be in better condition to survive a drought, than a lawn that was watered now and then.  So, you should go all in or not at all.  Depends on what you can afford.

Other drought tips from the article include, not cutting your grass blades more than a 1/3 in length.  Sharpen your blades at least twice during the mowing season.  Dull blades tend to just rip the grass out roots and all.  You should also de-thatch, aerate (punch holes in your lawn, don't bag your clippings as the cut grass will give your lawn moisture, but don't let it get to thick or let it clump, and lastly stay off your lawn as much as possible.

There you have it, some things you can do to save your lawn.  Without a drop of moisture in the 10 day forecast, it could be a long summer for your lawn.  Best of luck.