Lawn Care
At Jubilee Seeds, we understand the challenges you might face when trying to maintain a beautiful lawn during prolonged dry spells. As you’ll know, summer in the UK can be unpredictable, bringing everything from a week of rain to a prolonged period of sun, all while temperatures continue to rise. These conditions can leave even the most dedicated gardener feeling lost as their once-lush lawns begin to show signs of stress.
However, with the right approach and a few practical adjustments to your lawn care routine, you can help your grass survive drought conditions while maintaining its long-term health. Our aim is to share water-wise strategies that will keep your lawn resilient through the toughest summer conditions.
The Impact of Drought on Your Lawn
The first step in drought lawn care is understanding what’s actually happening to your grass during dry spells. When faced with water stress, grass naturally enters a dormant state as a survival mechanism – this means it’s not dead, just temporarily inactive. Those brown patches that appear across your lawn are often completely reversible once regular moisture returns.
You’ll notice several signs that your grass is experiencing drought stress: blades may begin to wilt and fold inward, the overall turf density may thin out, and growth will slow dramatically or stop altogether. This dormancy is actually your lawn’s way of conserving energy and moisture until conditions improve.
Water Wisely
If there’s no hosepipe ban in place in the area, make use of lawn watering with a hose or sprinkler. The best times to water are early morning between 4-10am or late evening after 6pm when temperatures are cooler and it less likely that your water will evaporate. Focus on deep, infrequent watering sessions rather than light daily sprinklings – this encourages roots to grow deeper, making your lawn more drought-resistant over time.
We always recommend collecting rainwater in water butts or containers during wet periods, as this precious resource can be invaluable during dry spells and is often exempt from hosepipe ban restrictions.
Mow Smarter During Hot Weather
Your mowing habits need to change during hot weather to help your lawn cope with stress. Raise your mower blade to cut grass at 4-6cm high, which is significantly longer than the typical summer cut. These longer blades act as natural umbrellas, shading the soil surface and helping to retain precious moisture that would otherwise evaporate quickly.
Avoid mowing during the hottest part of the day typically 11am-4pm when the grass is already under maximum stress from heat and sun exposure. Instead of collecting your grass clippings, leave them on the lawn where they’ll act as a natural mulch, decomposing slowly to add organic matter while creating a protective layer that helps retain soil moisture.
Reduce Foot Traffic and Stress
During drought conditions, your lawn becomes much more vulnerable to additional stresses, making it essential to minimise unnecessary damage. Heavy foot traffic on drought-stressed grass can compact the already dry soil, making it even harder for any available moisture to penetrate to the root zone. If you must cross your lawn regularly, consider laying down stepping stones or temporary walkways to distribute weight more evenly and protect the grass beneath.
This is also not the time for intensive lawn treatments like scarifying, aerating, or overseeding – these activities should be postponed until your lawn has recovered and moisture levels have returned to normal. By reducing stress during vulnerable periods, you’re giving your grass the best chance to survive and thrive once conditions improve.
Feed Sparingly or Not at All
Conventional wisdom might suggest feeding your lawn during stress, but drought conditions require a completely different approach to fertilisation. High-nitrogen fertilisers, which typically promote rapid green growth, can actually stress drought-affected grass further by encouraging growth that the plant cannot sustain without adequate water.
If you feel you must feed your lawn, consider using organic or seaweed-based feeds, which are gentler and less likely to cause additional stress. However, our recommendation at is to avoid feeding altogether during prolonged dry periods and wait until normal growing conditions return. Remember, a stressed lawn cannot properly utilise nutrients, so feeding during drought often wastes both product and money while potentially causing harm.
Embrace Drought-Resistant Lawn Care Habits
Building long-term resilience into your lawn requires thinking beyond immediate drought management to future-proofing strategies. When the time comes to reseed bare patches or renovate your lawn, consider drought resistant grass seed mixes that are naturally better adapted to dry conditions – we stock hardwearing grass seed for UK climate challenges.
Improving your soil structure with compost or well-rotted organic matter will dramatically increase its water-holding capacity, meaning future dry spells will have less impact. Creating mulched borders around your lawn edges not only looks attractive but also reduces competition for moisture and prevents water from running off onto hard surfaces. These investments in soil health and appropriate plant selection will pay dividends during every future drought.
Know When to Let Nature Take Its Course
Perhaps the most important lesson in drought lawn care is learning when to step back and accept that some browning is completely natural and reversible. Most of our lawns have remarkable recovery abilities and will bounce back quickly once autumn rains arrive, often looking better than lawns that were artificially maintained through intensive watering.
Rather than striving for an unnaturally perfect summer appearance, focus on maintaining the underlying health of your lawn through proper mowing, reduced stress, and patience. At Jubilee Seeds, we’ve seen countless lawns recover beautifully from seemingly severe drought damage, and we’re confident that with these strategies, yours will too.
Get in Touch!
Looking after your lawn in a drought doesn’t have to be a complicated task, and with the right seeds, fertiliser and turf you can get the job done properly. At Jubilee Seeds we provide a various selection of seeds including hardwearing grass seed and grass seeds for shady areas.
If you’re struggling with your lawn, don’t despair. The Jubilee Seeds Advice Centre is a very useful resource for all gardeners and groundskeepers wanting to create, maintain and regain a lush, green lawn in the face of adverse conditions. If you require any specific mixes or special requirements you can always contact us on 01531825299 or send us a message us at sales@jubileeseeds.co.uk.