Now that the summer is upon us in the mid Atlantic region, we find ourselves developing strategies to fight the inevitable droughts we so often encounter.  Our turf is turning brown and screaming for help.  Should we run out and buy another bag of "Turf Builder?"  Only if we want to give our lawns a quick and painless death.  Should we water on a regular basis?  Only if we are committed to supplying 3/4 to 1 inch of water per week.  Otherwise, we are dragging our turf in and out of its natural dormancy, which is its protective mechanism.

    Now is the time to allow our grass to show its true "moxie."  Cool season grasses including tall fescue, ryegrass, bluegrass, and fine fescue are susceptible to disease and death in hostile summer conditions.  Excessive nitrogen will promote diseases and improper watering will confuse plants, which are trying to survive the hardest of times.

    Having reached my "middle years", I rely upon teenagers to cut my grass.  While I can appreciate the frustration of a teenager pushing a mower around the lawn with no visible results of height reduction, I have to insist on keeping that mower set at a higher level!

    Tests at various universities have shown that the bulk of a grass root system on the East Coast is about the same length as the customary length of the grass blade.  Simply put, grass mowed at 3 inches has roots of 3 inches and grass grown at a height of 1 & 1/2 inches has roots of 1 & 1/2 inches.  Low mowing habits mean quick summer burn out.  Raise that mower!

    Other tests indicate that a grass plant, which has had more that 1/2 of the leaf removed in a cutting, can go into root paralysis, which can last 28 days.  This is called "scalping."  This means the plant will take on no further fluids other than those stored in its tissue for a month, assuming the plant survives the assault.

    In 1990 I had a fescue lawn that I mowed at the highest setting.  My neighbors would ask, "When are you going to cut your lawn?" to which I would reply, "I did it yesterday!"  By the end of the summer, my lawn was the last on the block to go dormant (brown) and the first to recuperate when the cooler temperatures and fall rains came in September.  Through the summer I had done no watering or fertilization.

    While there are some additives such as Sulphate of Potash and soluble iron that can enhance drought and heat tolerance, the average homeowner can do himself or herself a favor by simply not trying so hard.  Knock the tops of your grass off when it is "Scraggly" and drink lemonade.  You will be the winner.  Until next week.