Should I mow my lawn during a drought?

Question

Upstate New York is experiencing a severe drought that I never even thought was possible in what I have always known as a permanently wet and cloudy region.

I have left my lawn unmowed for over a month and in my neighborhood, more ground is brown than green, which is a first for me. We have some trees providing shade so certain areas are better than others, but overall things are pretty dry.

Should I leave the lawn as it is and wait a while until we get more rain, or should I mow it sooner rather than later? And for either action, is there a significant downside?

Answer 1

Not normally, it's considered a "cover crop" to protect the soil, and will help more moisture stay near the surface. A few years ago we had almost no rain all summer, and living on a creek the grass was just fine, then took off when it rained.

Left to right based on clipping length in a rotational grazing system:

Answer 2

Lawns allowed to go dormant do not do well. Sure, some will come back but weeds will be able to take hold.

Have you TRAINED your lawn grasses to become drought tolerant? When the roots are made to grow DEEP by watering very deeply and then allowing the lawn to dry until one can see their footprints on the grass before watering deeply again is the best way to save on one's water bill and in times of drought, your grass will be able to thrive far better and come back sooner without the weeds. Aerate once per year, water deep deep deep (4-6" below surface) and do not water again until the grass stays down after stepping on it, MOW ON HIGH!! Do not mow shorter than 3"!! This helps with evaporation and doesn't allow weed seeds to germinate. Grass (cool season grasses) have genetically huge root systems that have to have enough top growth to feed those roots. 3" is the LOWEST one should mow to prevent any stress, prevent weeds and reduce water loss. I am not kidding!

Mowing dead grass leaves is no big deal! Do NOT FERTILIZE!! Now that would kill your grass if it isn't growing because of drought!! Shallow watering is the worst thing people can do with any lawn. OK when a baby lawn but if you don't train your grass, drought will pretty much screw up all the work you've done.

Answer 3

This happens a lot in the south of the UK - we still cut if its growing, but with the blades set high, and let the clippings fly, leaving them on the lawn, only clearing them away (if they haven't shrivelled and disappeared completely) when rain is coming or has arrived. Parts of the cricket field opposite where I live are currently brown and parched, are still being cut, but higher, and will green up very quickly when rain arrives. Some years though, the grass stops growing altogether, becomes crunchy to walk on and is completely brown, then there's nothing to cut, and yours may be in this state in more exposed areas. But it may be that your lawn grass is not the same type of grass we use here in the UK...

Lawns which have suffered in this way in usually wetter regions do tend to produce more moss growth in the following months, and more weeds if recovery is patchy, so more maintenance is required, particularly in spring.