Drought Effects on Different Types of Grass

What is Drought?

• Drought as it relates to grass is a lack of sufficient water for a prolonged period of time. The cause of the drought could be insufficient rainfall, inadequate watering of your lawn, excessive drainage that results in poor moisture retention and a particularly hot weather spell. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, parts of the country get different quantities of rain, so the definition of a drought varies between regions.

Experiment

• An experiment was conducted during the fall of 1990 on 10 types of warm-season turf grasses to determine the effect of drought. The study made use of four types of bermudagrass and three types of St Augustine grass, plus Korean velvet grass, Egyptian crabgrass and paspalum grass, which is commonly used for golf courses that are irrigated with salt water. The grasses grew well for eight months, after which they were gradually exposed to drought conditions for 42 days.

Results

• The paspalum grass showed the highest degree of leaf firing and therefore the most damage, followed by Egyptian crabgrass, then a variety of St Augustine grass and common bermudagrass. The researchers also ranked the grasses in terms of shoot recovery, which was the amount of time they took to resume growth once they received water again. The paspalum was the slowest to recover, followed by the Korean velvet grass. The most drought-resistant grasses in the study were the bermudagrasses, which recovered the fastest and sustained only moderate damage.

Drought-Tolerant Grasses

• For homeowners that live in the cooler, northern parts of the country, the family of fine fescues offers three strong, drought-tolerant grasses including hard fescue, creeping red fescue and chewings fescue. Mixed with the widely grown Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass, these provide a disease- and drought-tolerant lawn. Homeowners living in the humid south will do better with bermudagrass, zoysia and bahia grasses. Wheatgrass, Russian wild rye, mountain brome and Arizona fescue are also drought-resistant grasses and are durable enough to use for livestock.

Protection

• Protect your lawn against drought by aerating it well in advance of any signs of a water shortage. Top dress it with compost and give it enough water to soak the soil well. Water infrequently, as this helps to encourage deep root growth. Make sure that you do not over-saturate the ground.