Drought stricken lawn.

[Harnser]

Following the drought and now getting enough rain so the ground is nicely damp, I’m wondering if our grass will recover from being 100% burnt brown and what to do if it doesn’t to any acceptable degree.

The weeds are up and thriving but not the grass.

Reading up on grass, which I’ve never had cause to do before, only curse it when it needs mowing, there are more types of grass than you can imagine. And some types are more resistant to drought than others and are used in southern france where drought is a yearly occurrence.

I’m guessing that our lawn was seeded with UK grass seed which is unlikely to be drought resistant.

Is it possible to re-seed a lawn just by sprinkling grass seed on to existing dead grass, raking it in and watering it? When we are allowed to of course.

 

[anotherbanana]

Mine is beginning to come back but is patchy

I am more concerned by the increased unevenness of the ground which seems to have shrunk. Will it swell up again, I wonder?

[menthe]

Harnser, yes you can reseed in patches of lawn as needed.  Plus, apart from the watering bit, it doesn't matter what time of year you plant grass seeds, they seem to "take" whatever the season.

Wools, if the ground is uneven and has shrunk, which you seem to think, my first thought would not be whether it would swell again.  If my house were built on the same kind of terrain, I would worry more about the foundations being affected.  If the soil is clay-ey, it would act like a sponge, shrinking in dry conditions and swelling in wet.  No need to spell out what that can do to the foundations and possible subsequent subsidence.

Don't want to alarm you but I have known this to happen in some areas of London and I also have friends in a town near here where this also happened.  It may not be as catastophic as it sounds, it is possible to underpin the foundations and contain the subsidence.  Expensive job though, very labour intensive.

[ssomon]

Problems near us this year https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/occitanie/herault/montpellier/herault-la-secheresse-provoque-des-fissures-dans-les-habitations-un-dommage-difficilement-pris-en-charge-2599152.html#xtor=EPR-521-[france3regions]-20220821-[info-bouton5]&pid=459386-1651791101-1b2fba3b

[anotherbanana]

Thank you Mint; fortunately not on clay but good deep valley bottom soil. I suspect that the worst of my lawn shrinking may be down to collapsing mole tunnels some of which may have been quite deep. This year, no moles thus far. Did they know there was a drought coming and have bu** ered off somewhere else?

 

[menthe]

Do you mean your dogs never dig for moles?😕

Mine used to be a terror for putting an ear to the ground, listening to see where they were, digging them out of their homes and laying them out as cadavres for re-burial by OH.

Apart from having these murdering tendencies, she was a most beautiful and adorable dog!

[anotherbanana]

The one dog I have left is too old, blind and deaf to hunt anything but he does bark at things he thinks he senses in the garden though. On one occasion I did find a couple of moles laid out for burial.