Secure online checkout

Select a Free Delivery Date*

ISO 9001 Quality Management

Award-winning customer service

01904 757372
Rolawn

Helping your lawn to cope with drought

What happens to my lawn in a drought?

After a sustained period without water, grass plants will go dormant to conserve energy. While they are no longer actively growing, the leaves above ground may turn brown and crispy but the roots are very unlikely to die. 

In the majority of cases, after rainfall, the grass plants will start to recover and within a few weeks be back to normal. The better maintained a lawn is, the longer it can withstand drought and the quicker it will recover. 

However, for lawns severely impacted by drought the scars from water deprivation may be seen well into autumn. That makes now a good time to start planning some actions that can be considered to aid the lawns recovery.

Lawn showing signs of drought damage

Alleviate compaction and aerate

Arid conditions can cause the ground beneath a lawn to become compacted. Baked hard by the long hot days and pressed down by lots of use by all the family, air and water are long gone which can make it a harsh environment that will slow recovery.  

When rains return, water needs to be encouraged to drain through the soil but if lawns are hard-packed it will tend to run off. Therefore aerating by spiking should be considered. 

Once the rain has made the topsoil soft enough to get a fork in, try spiking to a depth of around 8-10cm approximately 10-15cm apart. 

Alternatively, you can use a mechanical aerator – and if hiring one, consider talking to friends and neighbours about clubbing together.

Our guide to decompaction and aeration has further details on this.

Replenish nutrients

In drought conditions, lawns can often become depleted of the required nutrients for growth and as they start to grow again after rainfall quickly use up any remaining resources. 

After one or two periods of rain, we suggest you plan to feed your lawn with a balanced autumn fertiliser. Aim to do this at least once during the September and October period. If possible, a second application before the end of autumn would probably be a good idea. 

Follow our guide to fertilising your turf for advice on how to correctly apply fertiliser.

Rolawn’s GroRight® fertiliser offers a slow, steady release of fertiliser which is perfect for building up plant health over autumn, ahead of the additional stress of winter weather.

Overseed

In late summer, plan some overseeding for early autumn. We recommend topdressing as part of your overseeding routine, and to make the task more affordable, suggest sharing a bulk bag of topdressing with someone local. 

Click here for step-by-step overseeding advice.

Other key points to remember

  • Rake away any dead, straw-like grass from the lawn to help the air, water and nutrients permeate the ground.
  • Mowing can further stress a lawn which is already suffering from drought so avoid mowing in drought. 
  • Always ensure your lawn is growing healthily before restarting your mowing regime and raise your mower blades to the highest setting.
Close
Important update: Temporary 6.5% surcharge effective 7 April 

At Rolawn, we are committed to maintaining the high standards of quality and service our customers expect, so we want to be open with our customers about a change that will affect pricing from Tuesday 7th April. 

This decision has been taken in response to disruption to energy supplies, which has led to significant increases in wholesale prices, affecting not only fuel and fertiliser but also costs throughout our wider supply chain. As a business that relies heavily on fuel for both transport and operations, these sustained cost pressures have become increasingly difficult to absorb.  

While we have worked hard to mitigate the impact, the scale and pace of recent price increases have now exceeded what we can sustain internally, and we therefore need to recover a proportion of these externally driven increases. 

From Tuesday 7th April, a temporary 6.5% surcharge will apply to all products.  

We know that any increase in price is frustrating, particularly at a time when many businesses and households are already feeling under pressure. That is why we want to be clear that this is not a decision we have made lightly, and not one we wanted to make. It has been introduced solely to help offset unavoidable cost inflation and allow us to continue delivering the quality, reliability and service standards associated with Rolawn. 

We will continue to monitor market conditions closely and will review this surcharge as soon as circumstances allow, providing reasonable notice of any changes. We recognise that any price increase is unwelcome, but this step is necessary to ensure the continuity and reliability of our operations during a period of ongoing uncertainty. 

We remain committed to providing the quality, reliability and service standards you expect from Rolawn, and we truly appreciate your understanding and continued support. 

If you have any questions, please contact our customer support team who will be happy to help.