INDIANAPOLIS — Dry conditions are wreaking havoc in the Hoosier State and leaving many to worry about the state of their yards.
We spoke with experts to learn how to properly treat your yard before rain pushes through.
"It impacts our mowing service more than anything because if it's not raining, the grass is not growing, so we're not cutting grass," said John Jointer Jr., owner of Relentless Landscaping and Hauling.
Jointer said the dry weather is already draining people's yards.
"You have to water your grass. The best time is first thing in the morning and then later in the evening as the sun sets," said Jointer.
"It's definitely been dry, and it’s been dry for several months," said Cale Bigelow, Assistant Professor of the Horticulture and Landscaping Department, and Turfgrass Scientist at Purdue University.
Bigelow said Indiana was in a severe drought in 2012.
He said we're not there yet, but what we're experiencing is below normal.
"We look at the drought monitor map, and you can see things are regionally becoming much, much drier as well. We are below normal in terms of rainfall," said Bigelow.
Jointer said treating your yard ahead of the summer should have started around Easter, but it's not too late if you didn't get around to it. Since, rain is in the forecast this weekend, you may still have a chance.
"I suggest you fertilize it. I typically like to treat the grass when I know rain is coming. The waters are what triggers the chemicals to react," said Jointer.
"If your lawn has gone into this really stressful situation. You want to be careful with the feeding. You want to choose something called a slow-release fertilizer. You don't want something like eating a snickers bar and you get this rush of energy after you eat a chocolate. We don't want to do that to our turf grass," said Bigelow.
WRTV’s Amber Grigley asked Bigelow, “At what point should we start to worry?"
Bigelow said, "It's going to take at least 10 weeks of absolutely no rainfall for our grasses to get severely injured."
Bigelow says just because your grass is brown, try not to over-water your lawn. It could actually cause more harm than good.
