Will too much rain hurt my lawn? Is it possible to water my lawn to much?
With the overabundance of rain that we’ve had this year, I get a lot of questions that sound like that. My answer is Yes, you can get to much water on your lawn. Your lawn will not have a strong root system when it takes on to much water. Turf diseases will also be more abundant.
Imagine a normal spring in Kansas City.
Now I know what you’re going to say! “What’s normal for Kansas City?” Try to imagine a few days of rain and then several days of sunshine and dry weather. Let’s pretend that this pattern occurs for 4-6 weeks through out the spring. What happens is that the soil around the grass roots will start to dry out, causing the roots to grow a little deeper into the soil looking for moisture. This creates healthier turf with strong root system. A strong root system is the first line of defense when the hot and dry weather starts to roll in during the middle and later part of the summer.
With to much rain during the months of May and June, then those roots haven’t moved at all. Then when the hot weather arrives, the turf does not have the healthy root system tolerate the heat.
Lawn diseases are the other big issue that will come from to much rain on your lawn.
To much rain will cause high humidity and moisture in the soil. In this enviroment, lawn diseases are certain to pop up when the day time temperatures start to increase. Fungi will development in warm, moist environments. Bluegrass lawns are prone to getting a disease called Dollar Spot. Fescue lawns are prone to getting a disease called Brown Patch. Pythium Blight is another common disease that affects both Bluegrass and Fescue Lawns.
Other issues that will probably pop up from to much rain are the weakening of your early crabgrass preventer treatments and the likelyhood of more weeds growing in the lawn.
Well there you have it! I hope this helps you with your quest for a great looking lawn!