Care problem

Drought-dormant lawn

Grass turns brown and stops growing in heat and drought to protect its crowns; it usually greens up again.

What you'll see

• The lawn turns blue-gray, then straw-brown, starting in the sunniest, driest spots.
• Footprints and mower tracks stay pressed into the grass instead of springing back.
• Tug a brown patch: dormant grass holds firm, while grub-damaged turf lifts like a rug.

Why it happens

In heat and drought, lawn grasses stop growing and let their blades die back to protect the crown at the soil surface. As long as the crowns live, the lawn recovers when rain and cooler weather return.

How to fix it

1. Give a survival watering of about 1/4 to 1 inch (6 mm to 2.5 cm) a month to keep the crowns alive.
2. Don't try to force it green in a heat wave; it recovers on its own as temperatures fall.
3. Hold off on weedkillers until it greens up, and pull weeds by hand.

Keep it from coming back

• Mow high, at about 3 inches (7.5 cm), so roots grow deeper.
• Where summers are dry, grow deep-rooted, drought-tolerant grasses such as tall fescue.
• Check for grubs if brown patches don't green up after rain.

Sources

• Utah State University Extension: Brown grass is dormant, not dead
• Nebraska Extension: Drought effects on turf in the landscape (G2191)

General guidance, not a diagnosis. For valuable, edible or outdoor crops, check with a local extension service or plant expert. Use any product exactly as its label says, and keep children and pets away while it dries.