Lack Of Rain, Heat Showing Up In Brown Grass

The recent dry spell across the Upper Cumberland, causing some lawns to dry out.

Putnam County UT Extension Agent Wayne Key said the excessive rain in May caused a lot of overgrowth. Now, the lack of rainfall is leading to brown patches.

“Some of these subdivisions the backfield or the field that’s put in may not have a lot of organic material very deep.” Key said. “So its kind of shallow in the root zone for them and so those top two, three, four inches of soil can dry out very quickly in this kind of heat.”

Key said the best thing to do in a dry spell is to give the grass an inch of water per week.

“We don’t want to water late afternoon or in the evenings,” Key said. “Those plants sit there wet and moist all night, heavy humidity all night, 72 to 75 degree temperatures in the evening so it’s sticky, it’s muggy, it’s moist. That’s what causes some of those fungal diseases and patterns to get started.”

Another cause for brown spots in grass is Brown Patch Disease.

Key said that normally you would not see brown patches during the summer but more so in the Fall.

“This kind of weather is what we see in the hot, the dry air, the grounds starting to crack open from the lack of moisture,” Key said. “That is typically in the months of September and October.”