Lawn Care Goes Wrong in a Heatwave

“Labor Day is typically the time I’d do overseeding for my lawn, mainly because it’s a long weekend and it gives me time to get it done.. however, the next 7-8 days are going to be 95+ degrees, up to 107 on Wednesday. Do I just put it off another weekend or two? I am assuming doing it this weekend is a terrible idea be because of the heat, but I’m not an expert so just want a double check for my sanity submitted by /u/imscaredagain [link] [comments]”

“Hey all, I’m in central MN and it is now September. Temps are solid in the 80s and I am sick of watering my lawn and making it look nice. I am assuming if I just stop with the heat it will just go dormant and not kill it? Thanks for helping a noob submitted by /u/ChewbaccaSmith [link] [comments]”

“I recently moved into a house here in SoCal and, honestly, I never really paid much attention to how my lawn looked until now. I currently water the grass every other day for about 10 minutes per zone, but it still looks pretty dry, and there are several patchy areas throughout the lawn. I also have some weeds growing around the property. I’ve been doing some research, and from what I’ve read, some people recommend applying fertilizer, getting rid of the weeds, and then, if necessary, tilling th”

“Located in the Southeast with a Honda push mower. Today was over 100F. There's hasn't been any rain in weeks, but under the top layer of grass, it reminds me of chopped spinach it's so wet from the humidity. No matter what time of day, it's a mess. Needless to say, it's actually miserable to mow. Not only is it hot and you feel like passing out, but my mower is clogging every few feet. If I turn the mower over, the entire bottom is covered and grass clumps up at the very edge”

“We’ve had temperatures in the triple digits for the last few weeks here in Eastern Washington and lawn is staying green despite the heat. Have a solid watering schedule and nutrient applications have been successful. Happy striping! submitted by /u/Boomer_III [link] [comments]”

“Dallas. St Augustine. My backyard gets blasted by the sun all day. A couple spots getting brown even with watering 2x a week. Upped watering to 90 minutes. I use a Melnor oscillating that shoots way up so it needs a lot of time. On the non-watering says is there any benefit to letting it run for like 5 minutes in the afternoon to give the grass a little cool off? submitted by /u/electricgotswitched [link] [comments]”

“Right before sunset? 3-5 is usually the hottest part of the day, but 5-8 is barely any cooler.. In Denver today it’s forecasted to be 95 at 4pm, it drops down to 88 at 7pm.. contrast that to 9am when its 75-80 degrees So I guess its technically true that its cooler but I wouldn’t call that “avoiding the heat.””

“A 10 minute syringing of a heat-stressed lawn with a brief spritz in the late afternoon is great for emergency cooling, but running a full soak before dark is playing with fire. Routine overnight leaf wetness creates the exact 10+ hour window warm-weather fungi like Brown Patch need to take over. Save the deep watering for 4:00 AM so the roots get drenched and the morning sun dries the canopy.”

“stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day if possible Only work outside early in the am or late in the pm even then, it's still hot here it is at 2 am and it's till 85 degrees outside”

“I'm in Omaha, NE, and this week's heat has my lawn looking pretty stressed. Brown edges, a little wilted in the sunnier spots. I normally water early in the morning, but today I got home around 4 PM and started wondering whether it's worth running the sprinklers right away or if it's better to just wait until tomorrow morning. I've seen people say watering during the heat is pointless, while others say helping the grass through the stress matters more than the time of day. Fo”

“Live in Oklahoma and the last couple weeks we have had nasty weather at about 100 plus degrees on average. If it’s heat stress should I increase my watering rate? Water deep and infrequently 2x a week at 1.5 inches a week. 1 inch when weather is better. submitted by /u/Intelligent_Office81 [link] [comments]”

“I just had sod installed 1.5 weeks ago and it’s been incredibly hot. My sprinklers broke for 3 days in the midst of the multiple 100 degree days. The sod is getting really long but I am unsure if I should mow it yet. Like I mentioned, it’s only been a 1.5 weeks since install and I can still lift it around the corners. This isn’t the only section of sod but it is all really long like this. submitted by /u/FullCodeSoles [link] [comments]”

“We are in a heatwave, but the rest of my back yard is doing fairly well. Is it possible that my sprinklers just don’t cover this portion? Absolutely scorched! It also appears that perhaps some animals are lying there? Edit: I don’t know how to add a photo, but I posted to r/lawn porn a couple weeks ago including the same spot looking generally uniform with the rest of the lawn. submitted by /u/Txs_Poon_Tappa [link] [comments]”

“Too much water or not enough? I’m in Utah and there’s a heat wave so idk if they need more or less. Is it possible to over water during a heat wave? The soil seems a bit damp but not like too much to cause water logging. Idk but I’m soo distraught about my lil garden! Any help is appreciated. submitted by /u/lotlizard666 [link] [comments]”

“I have crabgrass and nutsedge and bought Roundup for lawns but have heard you shouldn’t apply it in summer. Is this true? It’s been a heat wave for the past week but now we have a few days of upper 70’s. submitted by /u/Stock_Violinist6299 [link] [comments]”

“Day 14 after sod installation, gave it a tug and the roots seem pretty solidly grafted. The sprinkler company set our schedule to 8 times a day for 12 minutes in one zone that gets full sun all day, and I think 8 for the other three zones. I want to start tapering down the watering schedule to three times a week (maximum). However, we have had 90+ degree weather with heat index of up to 105° and only one day of light rain during the two weeks. Much of the yard is squishy, with one zone having mu”

“I try to tell them that 45 minutes worth of water from the hose is an absurd amount, but they won't listen to me. The garden consists of plants like rhubarb, rose bushes and lilacs, and other little flowers I don't know the name of. submitted by /u/j_j-j_jr_shabadoo [link] [comments]”

“First time having to care for a lawn. Really dont know what Im doing. I have been watering the back yard for about 70 min/day (35 in morning, 35 at night). It has definitely gotten greener, but it is very patchy. The front yard isnt patchy really at all, but it is so yellow. How can I turn these around? submitted by /u/BulkyEggplant3995 [link] [comments]”

“Recently moved into a place and trying to get the yard dialed in. Live in Northwest, Washington state. Yard was very green when I moved in and irrigation is set to run about 20 minutes every other day in the morning. I did fertilize with a slow release formulation using a Scott spreader which left some lines and have a dog which I’ve noticed the urine actually turns the yard a dark green so probably nitrogen deficient. I’m trying to figure out what I should do to make it look more dense and gree”

“Left for a week on vacation and returned to my lawn being all splotchy. Have had the sprinklers running 3 days a week like normal while I was gone. It’s been hot and dry while I have been gone. The only thing I could think of is I sprayed the entire lawn with Image (quinclorac) a few days before I left to kill crabgrass that was spreading. Maybe it just damaged the Bermuda since it’s so hot? I mixed it to the label and broadcast it on front and back yard both. submitted by /u/needlep”

“It takes my ghetto hose valve and sprinkler setup about 2.5hrs to get 1/4" in all zones. Shortest zone takes about 18 minutes, longest takes 57. I'll typically have it do one 1/4" round around 3am and another around 6 to minimize pooling on days I water, usually twice a week”

“a lot of people say don't water your lawn at night because it can result in mold, but I don't put a lot of stock in that. If you noticed, mother nature sometimes makes it rain at night and my lawn isn't a black mold factory in the morning... try it for yourself and find out.”

It's the overthinking it that counts

“Located in Nebraska, modular home community I’m wondering what would’ve cause this? I’m not sure if this is the right sub, but I’m unsure where to ask. It happened sometime in the past 24 hours since I mowed yesterday morning. There’s now random piles of dirt and some of the hard ground is cracked and looks like it’s pushing upwards. We have a dog who loves to bark at everything so it’s unlikely a person was in our yard long enough to do this without him noticing, and even if it was a person, wh”

“Mid-July in the STL transition zone and still green. Fungicide rotation plus one extra slow-release app this summer. submitted by /u/Cool-Heron3317 [link] [comments]”

“My front yard (~7k sq ft) is covered by two impact sprinklers. Their reach is impressive, but of course it takes forever to water such a large area, about 5 hours to put down ~0.6”. The two zones overlap, so I would prefer to do them together, but that will likely require incorporating some break periods for my well too, so pushing 7-8 hours. What’s worse is the yard gets a lot of sun and seems to be very prone to fungus like summer patch. Any tips for timing watering to minimize fungus? Seems v”

“I live in Chicago area and I have Cub cadet tractor with mulching blade on it and mulching hood so no side discharge. Problem is, I finally cut my grass after 2 to 3 weeks of rainy season. So now my grass is too big and have grass clipping all over my yard. I tried to run tractor over it multiple times but it won't cut grass into smaller finer clipps. I have about .75 acre yard. What I need to do? Do I need to lower my setting to cut more finer clippings? Is there a bagger or lawn sweeper I”

“I live in Minnesota and we’ve been getting some nasty high temps and have been in heatwave advisories for weeks now. Here is the current forecast in the attached picture. My question is how should I go about mowing? I was going to take an hour off work this morning to mow but the grass still has so much dew on it and when I get home from work around 4:30p it’s so insanely hot. I cut it last on Friday and it’s still growing in this heat. I try to cut it every 3 days but I might have to go longer”

“Try not to mow it on the hottest days, mow it as high as possible, mow it as late during the day as possible.”

“From MS and I’d love if this was a heat wave. Every weather source was talking about us being below average and it was 90 degrees. But we don’t deal with MN winters either I suppose”

““Heatwave” Cries is Texas… but the tears evaporate right away because it’s 100+”

“I knew you were in MN before I even read the text in your post - my weather looks the exact same. I am not mowing until the weekend. Your yard can go more than 3 days. On a side note, I did mow around 11 this past Sunday and the grass in my backyard still was wet with morning dew since it was shady. Just blow any clumps of grass back into the grass, and I lifted my mower upright so the underside/blades could dry.”

“As a Texan, I tend to mow around sundown when the humidity has boiled off and the temps have started dropping. I avoid doing it first thing in the morning because there dew point is higher and I hate being drenched in sweat while mowing. Mostly it’s about mowing when its comfortable for you, I don’t like doing it in the middle of the day if I can avoid it, but loose light long sleeves and a big sun hat can make it manageable.”

“I’ve been mowing on the tallest setting (about 4”) in the late afternoon. It’s still hot af, there’s no way around it, but the grass has been fine”

“"A day without a buzz is a day that never was." No way I'm push mowing my lawn in 80-90f+ & 60%+ RH sober.”

“I use the hour before sunset for any lawn work. Grass is dry, humidity and UV are low, but you can still see.”

“I mow in the evening. Sometimes I finish in the dark. Under 85 degrees was the safe temperature when I worked at a sod farm.”

“I guess it depends on the grass, some stuff is still growing good. They also water it heavily though. We’re mowing at 4.5 on some”

“I mowed 4 days ago and had to bump up my cut height today lol. I wanna live where these people live. My grass grows like fucking crazy even if I’m terrible to it. NE Oklahoma fwiw.”

“What is this magical non-growing grass y'all have, I'm still mowing once every 4 days and not meeting the rule of 1/3 🤣 ETA: I'm at 4" right now btw, not scalping by any means. If I went 2 weeks it would literally be at 12"!”

“100%. Give it two weeks between mows, it’s not growing much anyhow. No point in wasting time to mow short grass only to burn it out”

“Don’t cut it. Let the grass focus on root growth during this time. Longer grass gives more shade for your soil.”

“I've always thought that residential irrigation is a supplement to rain. My system would be insanely expensive to run and it would take forever to get 1" of irrigation a week. But...it is possible with a big enough wallet. In your case....I would try to cut back on watering. You have a very large yard so because of that it will also take longer. Good luck.”

“Another option - ever see those tractor looking sprinklers that travel down the hose? At least that way one section wouldn’t be wet for 5 hrs. Also, I’m finding organic fertilizer can help reduce fungus.”

“I have a full sprinkler system installed over 1/2 acre of pure grass lawn...4 zones still have to run for 100 minutes each to put down 1/2". Its best to have a programmer that you can do zones 1,2,3,4 for 30 minutes each, then 2:15 after that start time, run same 4 zones again and again. That way I get 400 total minutes with 2 hrs between each cycle to allow soakage. But yeah....7hrs total. Twice a week.”

“I have actually been doing one at a time on different days (that’s where that measurement is from), but I want to switch to both simultaneously. This morning I noticed that my well pump is kicking on every 5 minutes or so with watering one at a time, but runs continuously if both are going. Short cycling like the pump like that is less than ideal. Plus, the overlapping area between the zones would be getting wet 4x per week if splitting. Running both simultaneously doesn’t seem to impair the thr”

“You may notice the .6" increase if you just do one sprinkler at a time. I'd test again with just one sprinkler at a time, and a few different water guages. One closer to the sprinkler and one at it's outer edge. And in the morning when it's shady and zero wind. I always water in the early morning around 4am. And I watch the RainDrop app and if it's only .60" for the week then I'll water for maybe an hour to stack the deck in my favor. Maybe focus on watering the spo”

“Yea, what’s better about something like this vs my setup is in my case my entire front yard is wet for the full 7-8 hours, instead of one zone at a time. I do worry that will increase is susceptibility to fungus”

“I have 19000 sqft of yard to water. I just decided to split up my yard into 2 days. Half one day and half the other so I can get it mostly watered in the early am hours.”

“I have 12 zones, 5 of the large heads per zone. I water zones for durations varying from 35 minutes to 60 minutes so my system runs for 7-8 hours. Watering during the heat of the day or after the wind picks up is futile for me. So, like you, I water some of my lawn at night.”

“Summer droughts are pretty bad in my area (7a). We moved in last year in August to a lawn that was obliterated by drought (looked great when we signed in June). Definitely need to supplement water pretty heavily, however fungus has been a recurring problem in front yard as well”

“Start at like 4 in the morning, that should get it mostly done before it gets hot. It is also ok to do like a little less at a time than a full 1/2 inch. The main purpose of turf irrigation is to keep the turf out of dormancy, not to replicate actual heavy rainfall events. Hopefully you get enough of those (rainfall events) to keep it going mostly and can supplement with the sprinklers as needed.”

“Interesting, well glad that’s working for you instead. I did intentionally upgrade to a 3/4” hose to make the most of it”

“Thanks! You must have better pressure than me, I tried that one and it didn't throw further than 20 feet for me. I have a Big Sprinkler now that gets excellent coverage”

“Orbit impact spikes, 56946. I had the oscillating type prior and they were pretty good too, but they don’t throw as far and they are more susceptible to dirt clogs”

“I don't have the answer for you but what sprinklers do you have that cover such a distance? I am also on well and I think long and drawn out is better to not exhaust the well”