AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n
Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n Patches of brown and yellow. Bare and balding spots. Grass blades flattened or curled.<\/p>\n Read more Krispy Kreme is giving away doughnuts, if you dress the part. How to get a free one<\/a><\/p>\n Lawns throughout North Carolina are struggling during the state\u2019s long-term drought.<\/p>\n Nearly half of the state is in severe drought, with parts of central North Carolina and the Triangle, in exceptional drought, the worst drought rating. More than 100 water systems have mandatory or voluntary water restrictions related to the drought, and some cities are issuing fines for violators.<\/a><\/p>\n Turfgrass, on average, needs about an inch of water a week to keep it green. We spoke to three experts about ways to help North Carolina lawns (and gardens) survive the drought.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t give grass the credit it deserves, and the fact that it is quite drought tolerate, it doesn\u2019t need a lot of water to stay alive,\u201d said Grady Miller, professor and extension turfgrass specialist. \u201cNow, some of our grasses need more water than others to stay green, and most people who want an impact lawn, an attractive lawn, they want it to be green. So that\u2019s kind of where the issue sometimes comes around. Are you watering it to keep it alive? Or are you watering it to keep it green?\u201d<\/p>\n There are two different types of grasses<\/a>: cool season and warm season.<\/p>\n Cool season:<\/b> These types of grasses stay green in the winter and colder seasons, and they struggle in the summer. Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, fine fescue and perennial ryegrass are common cool-season grasses in North Carolina, especially in the mountains and Piedmont.<\/p>\n Warm season:<\/b> These type of grasses stay green in the summer and go dormant during the first heavy frost. Bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, centipedegrass and St. Augustinegrass are common warm-season grasses in North Carolina, especially in the coastal plain and piedmont.<\/p>\n Most of North Carolina, including the Triangle, is in the transition zone where winters can be too cold for some warm season grasses and summers are too warm for some cool season grasses.<\/p>\n \u201cThat sounds like we can grow anything,\u201d said Ashley Troth, Cooperative Extension Agent and Consumer and Commercial Ornamental Horticulture. \u201cIt actually means we can\u2019t grow anything well. It\u2019s actually very hard, right? It\u2019s very hard to keep a lawn around here. There\u2019s a reason you and your neighbors\u2019 lawns look the way they do.\u201d<\/p>\n Tall fescue, zoysiagrass, Kentucky bluegrass, bermudagrass and Bahiagrass all have an excellent or very good rating for drought tolerance, according to the North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook.<\/p>\n But the grass variety\u2019s drought resistance is just one factor, Miller said.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonal preference and price does come into play, but even more than that, is environmental,\u201d he said. \u201cIs what you\u2019re planting these grasses in conducive for that grass?\u201d<\/p>\n Read more Why pro softball, NC State coach\u2019s unexpected summer job can benefit the program<\/a><\/p>\n For instance, a homeowner may not want to switch from tall fescue to a more drought resistant grass because of the layout of their yard.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s say you have an older lawn with mature trees, and you have tall fescue,\u201d Miller said. \u201cYou probably have one of the more shade-tolerant grasses already. So if you want to switch to a warm season grass, you may not have the greatest environment to put one in.\u201d<\/p>\n But many people switched from tall fescue \u201cbeing the standard\u201d after the historic state drought in 2007-08, he said.<\/p>\n Follow water restrictions, and water early in the morning<\/b>, if allowed.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t put out fertilizer or herbicides<\/b>, because that can encourage growth, which causes stress during a drought, Miller said.<\/p>\n Avoid mowing or raise the mow height<\/b> of the blades to avoid stressing the grasses.<\/p>\n \u201cUnless you\u2019re pruning out dead or damaged wood, it encourages growth,\u201d Troth said. \u201cAnd the last thing we want to do right now is encourage growth. Like if a plant can just like hold on and not grow but not die, that\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n Understand the basics of water irrigation:<\/b> There are at least two things a gardener needs to know about their plants: how much water the plant needs to survive and how much water the soil can contain.<\/p>\n Cover your soil:<\/b> This helps the little bit of water not evaporate. That can be either mulch or pine straw, said Emmanuel Torres, assistant professor of horticultural sciences and extension specialist. Home gardeners should consider organic mulch, he said, and commercial farmers can consider white mulch over black to help control the evaporation of water.<\/p>\n Soil moisture sensors:<\/b> These \u201clittle gadgets\u201d help tell how much water is in the soil, Torres said, adding they can range in price and accuracy.<\/p>\n Contact the Cooperative Extension:<\/b> The NC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteers can answer common gardening questions and provide research-based information to your questions. Find contact information for all 100 counties online at sites.google.com\/ncsu.edu\/garden-questions\/home<\/a>.<\/p>\n