Nottingham experienced sweltering temperatures, bone-dry land and little rainfall. If we struggled in this exceptional heat, then surely our grass did too!
Grass naturally goes dormant after two to three weeks without water, and most lawns can survive drought for four to six weeks. Remember, dormant grass isn’t necessarily dead grass. Dormancy is a natural protection mechanism for grass to withstand weather changes.
How long does recovery take?
We often get asked “How long does it take for grass to come back to life after excessive heat?”
It can take up to 6 weeks for your grass to recover, with germination taking place between 2-3 weeks after a drought. This depends on many variables and treatment measures, including: the age of your lawn, the previous conditions of the lawn e.g. Thatch and Compaction, and the severity of the drought.
Your lawn improvment guide?
If your lawn is struggling recover take a look at our recovery and improvement guide:
After a drought is an ideal time to carry out renovation and repair in your garden – it will help the lawn recover whilst making it more drought resistant for the following year.
The best time to carry out lawn renovation work of scarification, aeration and over seeding is from August to early October, we call this Lawn Renonation. This is due to the high soil temperature, slightly shorter days than mid-summer and autumn rainfall soon to arrive, the next best time is Spring.
To relieve compaction and improve soil health we can complete this through October, November and December before starting again in Spring.
Our mechanical treatments are a popular service, along with being labour intensive work, our diary fills a month or two in advance – all the more so off the back of a drought. If your lawn is struggling with recovery, rest assured you are not alone! But book that mechanical slot soon to ensure you get allocated a spring slot.