Taking care of your lawn during a dry spell requires a few changes to your usual routine. Instead of trying to keep the grass perfectly green, the goal is to help it survive. You will need to water less frequently but more deeply, let your grass grow a bit taller, and skip stressors like fertilizer or aeration.
If your lawn turns brown, it may be entering dormancy, but recovery depends on the grass type and how long the dry spell lasts.
However, figuring out exactly what to do isn’t always easy. Lawn Love connects you with the best local lawn care pro to help you manage your yard safely during a drought and bring it back to life when the rain finally returns.
| Key takeaways |
|---|
| • Water deeply and infrequently — aim for 1/4 to 1/2 inch of water every 2 to 4 weeks. • Let grass grow taller during drought to shade the soil and reduce evaporation. • You can mow during a drought, but mow high, use sharp blades, and avoid mowing dormant (brown) grass. • Skip nitrogen fertilizer and aeration until cool, wet weather returns. |
How to water during a drought
During a drought, your goal is to keep the grass alive without forcing it to grow.
“You can tell a dormant lawn received just enough water when it stays mostly brown, the crowns stay alive, and new green blades do not emerge a few days later,” says Jessica Mercer, PhD, horticulturist at Plant Addicts.
How much to water during a drought
To achieve this balance, water deeply but infrequently. It encourages grass to grow deeper roots that can access moisture farther underground.
“A good measure is to water enough to moisten the soil only about 4 to 5 inches down,” Mercer says. “During drought, that means watering about 1/4 to 1/2 inch every 2 to 4 weeks for an established lawn.”
Mercer warns against light, daily sprinkling because it can trick the grass into waking up before consistent rain returns. Depending on your sprinkler, delivering half an inch of water takes about 20 to 60 minutes.
“You can check this by inserting a pencil or a small stick into the soil,” says Ross Hulstein, owner of Enviroscapes in Arvada, CO. You want the pencil to easily slide 4 to 5 inches down. “If the surface is wet but the soil below is hard, the water likely has not reached the roots.”
Always check your local watering restrictions before irrigating.
When to water during a drought
The best time to water is between sunrise and 9 a.m.
- Avoid midday watering: The hot sun will evaporate the moisture before it ever reaches the roots.
- Avoid evening watering: Leaving your grass damp overnight creates the perfect environment for mold and fungal infections.
Pro tip: Use drip irrigation or soaker hoses to deliver water directly to the soil. This reduces runoff and evaporation, and lets you target specific dry patches without watering the entire yard.
Read more:
Should you mow during a drought?
Only mow if your grass is still partly green and actively growing. However, if your grass is struggling, it is best to leave it alone.
When to stop mowing during a drought
“Do not mow if the lawn is fully brown, crisp, and barely growing,” Mercer says. “Also, look for footprints that linger or blades that do not recover after you walk across them.”
“Mowing drought-stressed turf strips off leaf tissue the plant still needs and can thin or kill already weak patches,” she says. ”Mowing also increases water loss, compounding the stress of the drought. If tall weeds are a problem, raise the deck and clip only the tops.”
Best practices for mowing dry lawns
Mow during a drought only when the grass is still growing enough to need a cut, or when weeds are tall enough to shade the lawn or start setting seed. If only parts of the lawn are still growing, keep mowing to a minimum and avoid cutting severely stressed areas.
If your grass is entirely dormant, you should ideally leave it alone to protect its root energy. However, if you are forced to cut it—for example, due to strict HOA requirements—Hulstein advises carefully mowing at the highest possible cutting height.
Use these mowing tips during drought:
- Avoid mowing on extremely hot days.
- Keep mower blades sharp to make clean cuts.
- Leave grass clippings behind to act like a light mulch that shades the soil.
Recommended mowing heights during drought:
| Type of grass | Mow to this height |
| Bahiagrass | 4 inches |
| Bermudagrass | 2.5 inches |
| Buffalograss | 4 inches |
| Centipedegrass | 2.5 inches |
| Fine fescue | 3 inches |
| Kentucky bluegrass | 3 inches |
| Perennial ryegrass | 3 inches |
| St. Augustinegrass | 4 inches |
| Tall fescue | 4 inches |
| Zoysiagrass | 3 inches |
Don’t aerate a drought-stressed lawn
“Hard ground usually signals that you should wait to aerate. On a brown, drought-stressed lawn, aeration can tear the turf and leave open holes that further dry the root zone,” Mercer says.
She adds that when the soil is rock-hard, aeration machines struggle to work correctly.
“The plugs are often shallow or broken because the soil is too hard.”
Exception: “There are areas with heavy compaction where water, even when applied, simply runs off or pools on the surface,” Hulstein says. “In those situations, targeted aeration can help, but only if it is followed by deep watering.”
In most cases, wait until the drought has passed, the soil is reasonably moist, and your grass is in its peak growing season, so it can quickly recover from the disruption.
- Cool-season grasses: Save core aeration for early fall (preferred) or early spring.
- Warm-season grasses: Wait to aerate until late spring or early summer, after the grass has fully greened up and is actively growing.
Read more: Best Time to Aerate and Overseed a Lawn
Add organic matter to your soil
“Use a fine, finished, plant-based compost with low soluble salts,” Mercer says. “Spread it lightly as a topdressing, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.”
Hulstein recommends looking for a product “without a strong odor or signs of fresh decomposition. This kind of material does not draw moisture out of the soil and does not damage already stressed roots.”
Be careful not to overdo it. “Too much compost can smother grass or leave a muddy, uneven surface. Products heavy on manure or high in salts can add more stress to dry turf,” Mercer warns.
Don’t fertilize a drought-stressed lawn
Avoid nitrogen-heavy fertilizers during a drought.
“There is not enough moisture in the soil to properly dissolve the fertilizer, so the concentration of salts around the roots becomes too high and the roots begin to dry out,” Hulstein explains.
“Fertilizer burn usually shows up as yellow, tan, or brown streaks and patches, often in the path of the spreader or where passes overlapped. The grass can look dry, brittle, and scorched, with a distinct border between damaged and healthy turf,” Mercer says.
She warns that quick-release fertilizers can burn dry grass within a day or two, while slow-release formulas might take a couple of weeks to show damage.
What to do: Wait until regular rainfall returns. For the best results, fertilize warm-season grasses in late spring or early summer, and feed cool-season grasses in early fall.
Read more: When to Fertilize Your Lawn
Avoid foot traffic
It is best to stay off your lawn as much as possible during a drought.
“Repeated traffic on dormant grass is hard on it because the lawn is not growing enough to repair itself,” Mercer says. “A few steps across the lawn will not ruin it, but repeated trips along the same line can crush the crowns and wear the turf thin.
Fortunately, minor damage will disappear once the weather improves.
“Once rain returns and growth resumes, light traffic marks may fade in 2 to 3 weeks. Heavier footpaths can take 4 to 6 weeks or longer to recover, and dead areas may need reseeding,” Mercer says.
Read more: Best Ground Covers for Foot Traffic
Control weeds
Weeds are hardy and adapted to dry conditions. They compete with your grass for the limited water available, making them a bigger nuisance during droughts.
Hand-pulling is the most effective method during a drought — it removes roots without adding chemical stress to weakened turf. For larger infestations, wait for cooler, wetter weather before applying herbicides.
Pro tip: To pull weeds effectively from hard, dry ground, lightly spot-water the weed first or use a weeding tool to loosen the soil. This ensures you extract the entire root instead of just snapping off the top.
Read more:
Watch out for pests mimicking drought
Insect damage often looks exactly like drought stress. If you water a brown patch but the grass does not bounce back, you likely have a pest problem rather than a thirsty lawn.
Chinch bugs inject toxins into grass blades that block water movement, while armyworms can strip your lawn bare in days. Check for bugs before adding more water.
Read more:
FAQs
Yes, most lawns recover once regular rainfall returns. Cool season grasses can survive 4 to 6 weeks of dormancy. Warm season grasses can tolerate longer dry periods. Check out our guide on How to Help Your Lawn Recover from Drought.
Tug on a handful of grass. Dormant grass has living crowns that resist being pulled. Dead grass releases easily with no resistance at the roots.
Follow local restrictions first. If limited watering is permitted, apply just 0.25 to 0.5 inches every 2 to 4 weeks in severe drought. Focus any allowed water on recently seeded areas and highest-stress sections of the lawn.
Hire a local lawn care pro
Maintaining a lawn through a drought takes consistent decisions about watering, mowing, and knowing what not to do — plus the right timing for recovery once rainfall returns. If you’d rather leave it to someone who does this every day, Lawn Love makes it simple — get an instant quote, pick a time, and a local pro will handle the rest.
Main Photo Credit: Christian Delbert / Adobe Stock
Related Posts:
