🌱 Top 10 lawn tips for a drought
1. Don't panic if your lawn turns brown
An established, healthy lawn can go brown and stop growing during drought as it conserves moisture. In many cases the roots remain alive and the grass will green up again when rain returns.
Brown does not automatically mean dead.
2. Don't waste precious water trying to keep an established lawn green
The RHS specifically recommends resisting the temptation to water established lawns during summer drought, even when they look completely parched.
If water is genuinely needed, prioritise new lawns and recently established areas, and use collected rainwater or suitable grey water where possible.
3. Raise your mower height
If your grass is still growing, raise the cutting height.
Longer grass provides more leaf area and helps shade the soil, while close mowing during drought puts additional stress on the plant and can encourage shallower rooting.
4. Stop mowing if growth has stopped
There's no prize for mowing a lawn that isn't growing.
During severe dry weather, give the mower a break. When growth resumes, return to mowing gradually and keep the cutting height higher while conditions remain dry.
5. Let the clippings work for you
Where appropriate, leave fine grass clippings on the lawn.
They can act as a light mulch, helping reduce moisture loss while returning nutrients to the soil as they break down. A mulching mower is particularly useful for this.
6. When autumn arrives, scarify
September and October are prime lawn renovation months.
Scarifying removes accumulated thatch, moss and dead material from the surface. This allows water and air to reach the soil more effectively and can improve the lawn's ability to cope with future drought.
Don't scarify a lawn that is still severely drought stressed. Wait until conditions improve and the grass is actively growing again.
7. Aerate compacted areas
After a summer of heat and heavy use, soil can become compacted.
Aerating creates channels for air and water to reach the root zone, helping the lawn cope with both drought and future wet conditions. A garden fork can be enough for smaller areas, while hollow tine aerators are particularly useful on heavy or compacted soils.
The RHS recommends holes around 10 to 15cm deep, spaced roughly 10 to 15cm apart for basic fork aeration.
8. Repair the bare patches
Once autumn rain arrives and the soil is moist, September is an excellent time to repair areas damaged by drought.
Loosen the soil, add suitable lawn seed and keep the area protected while it establishes. For particularly drought-affected lawns, consider a drought tolerant seed mix, with fescue rich mixes being particularly useful.
9. Think carefully about autumn feed
Don't automatically throw fertiliser onto a drought-stressed lawn. The RHS specifically advises avoiding lawn weedkiller and fertiliser on drought affected turf in autumn, delaying treatment if necessary until the following spring.
Once the lawn has recovered and is actively growing, an appropriate autumn lawn feed can support root development and hardiness. Autumn feeds generally favour potassium and phosphorus rather than the high nitrogen associated with summer growth.
10. Use this autumn to build next year's lawn
The lawn you want next spring starts with what you do this autumn.
Scarifying, aerating, repairing bare areas, improving the soil and choosing appropriate seed can all help develop a healthier lawn with stronger roots and better drought resilience for the future.