Season over before it starts?

[thelawnguy]

Lawns are beginning to show signs of drought stress. A few have not even been mowed yet this season and are already going dormant. Pray for rain. Glad I had a busy winter season.

How are others holding up in your areas?

[Holloway Lawns]

We need rain here to we are under water restrictions since last summer.

[dfor]

Same here in Rhode Island. This is too early to have the dust flying. Maybe it'll be like last year when things started to dry up, then the rain came, and came. I can see that some lawns might be going to a 10 or 14 day schedule.

[mdb landscaping]

it seems everytime i buy a new mower, the grass burns and i cant use it that much. i bought my scag walk behind 3 or 4 years ago and i was mowing every 3 weeks. i just got my first ztr (60 inch lazer) 2 weeks ago and ive only mowed once. i cant wait to use it again this week, but the lawns are already dry and no rain expected all week. i hope some rain comes.

[jrebeiro]

same here in NJ some are gettig dry.. others are fine... I can definatly tell who has irrigation and who does not

[ChadsLawn]

Here in the Tampa area we've been on water restrictions for about 3 to 4 years now.

Will it ever get back to normal??

[Charles]

Now you guys up north are getting a taste of what we been through the last 3 or 4 years down south. Last year early starting drought seems to be repeating itself. I think we got 1" or 2" in april. They say the norm is 4 ". I dont think there is a normal anymore. I was really kicking up the dirt and dust today as the ground is drying up fast. pray for rain some people say. Well we been praying for normal rainfall for a longtime now so good luck on that.

[Scag48]

Up here in Eastern Washington, we have a low snow pack year in the mountains so our lake is gonna be down a few feet from it's usual level! We're kind of in a drought here but I guess we'll see. My lawn, on the other hand, is growing insanely fast! I have to mow every 5 days! One thing to say on that, WOW!

[John DiMartino]

Lawns here are starting to go dormant too.I mowed last week,dust everywhere,like it was august in april.At the golf course we have been watering greens,tees and fairways for 2 weeks already,usually we dont need water until 2nd week of may on fairways,and 1st week on greens.We have no rain in sight either-a complete 180 of last year.

[65hoss]

We've had a decent amount of rain until about a week ago. Things are starting to get dry. But, we've been cutting every week and will continue to for a while still.

It is very unusual though, the bermuda is really slow about greening up this year. Zoysia and fescue are growing good and dark green, but several bermuda lawns are very patchy.

[lee b]

Grass has already quit growing here and some lawns are starting to die back. Sure makes it rough - eating dust all day. A month ago we were bogging everywhere we went, now the ruts we made then are beating me to death. Only good thing is my accounts pay whether the grass needs cutting or not. But I sure hope we all get some good rain soon...

[kris]

need rain here also

[HOMER]

Thank God for irrigation systems! At least I don't get dusted on these lawns.

We need rain terribly bad here in Alabama. It actually drizzled some today, about a minute and a half worth. Oh well, I guess it knocked down some dust......for that moment. Blades are taking a beating, wearing out pretty fast. May get rain my end of the week........I hope!

[eggy]

We have not see rain here for some time however the grass is growing like crazy yet! We have had heavy dews in the morning..I guess our soil mosture is in good shape here.

[KirbysLawn]

Same here Bill, non irrigated lawns are suffering. I started cutting at 4" 2 weeks ago and that has helped a little. You should see the scalped lawns! :eek:

[Highpoint]

Luckily the conditions are quite good here in Missouri. Cut every property 4 times so far. Looks like a good start to the year. Gas prices suck the big one though!

[muxx]

We also are having a dry season. Worst I have seen it this early since I started 12 yrs ago.

[Greenkeepers]

We've had a wet spring, but summer hasn't had that much rain at all.. The grass is still growing but it's getting dusty when cutting the lawns. Good luck y'all

[lawnworker]

The yards are only holding up now because we have not had any real hot weather yet.If we get temp in the 90s along with this lack of rain it will look like augaust in may prey for rain everyone.I have noticed scrub cut and homeowners that have cut to short as well as small comercials near roads and all look the worst some bad yards are just weeds and dirt

[ETturfman]

Very dry here in East Texas. We had 21" of rain from Jan. 1st to the end of March, then if shut off. The lawns are starting to show a lot of stress and we're only cutting the non-irrigated lawns every other week now.

It seems like this is the same weather pattern as 1998, the El Nino year. Rain all winter up until April. Then nothing but a big dome of high pressure and hot, dry temps. all spring and summer.

I read somewhere that this summer was predicted to be a little cooler and wetter than normal. I hope this pans out to be true for all of us. Good luck everybody!

JL&L

[parkwest]

Adapt, Overcome, Conquer.

Sounds like a good time to start pushing irrigation installations.

[lawnboy11]

It's 2:30 and I'm D-O-N-E for the day (started at 6:45 though), but the dry weather makes work a lot faster-less grass clippings, less trimming, less weeds in beds, fast blowing. In a way it's great, but I'd rather have a little rain so that the non-irrigated look great like the irrigated lawns. Also, the seed applied three or so weeks ago is suffering/not germinating/thin in dry areas and that makes me mad...........

[mowerman90]

Here in Spring Hill Fl it HAS NOT RAINED AT ALL SINCE MARCH 30TH. Talk about lawns look'n like toast.

[Alan]

NW Vermont checking in. DRY here, grass has not really greened up, most places are still dead brown. We should be mowing this week, but snow cover stayed late and cleanups are about a week behind. I was on one today that has quite a bit of clover and the clover was WILTED! That's scary. We had about 30% of normal rainfall for April, most of that was before the snow was gone. I do cleanups with a dethatcher and bagger and the dust cloud is terrible. I've got a couple more to clean and then get into lime and fertilizer but I'm hesitating to fertilize at this time. I'm worried that fertilizer will add to the drought stress and do more harm than good. Is this a valid concern? By the way, it was 86 and sunny/windy today, excellent drying conditions if I was putting up hay. Tomorrow is forecast for 86 and Wednesday is supposed to go 83. No rian in the picture right through the weekend.

[3 Oaks Farms Landscapes]

Guess we are lucky here in Mississippi. Everything is green and growing well. We have had alot of rain since January and our Bermuda lawns could be cut almost twice a week.Hope you get some rain.

[thelawnguy]

Our average April rainfall is close to 4 inches...we had barely an inch, and most of it came down the beginning of the month while the ground was still frozen so it just ran off.

[Charles]

Still no rain here and they are calling for isolated thunderstorms Sunday. Ya Right! We rarely get any of that isolated crap. Whatever happen to spring showers bring may flowers? Gone with low gas prices I guess. Thats what we suppose to average Lawnguy but that hasnt happen in a long time regularly. Its either feast or famine. That big ol high just sits off the coast blocking the rains and letting them sit and flood the midwest

[Paradise Yard Service]

We got one season here and people in Hawaii must have irrigation in most regions or the landscape dies.
Aloha,
P.Y.S.

[Charles]

People in the south are tightwads when it comes to water. They dont like paying for it at all. Well not all but most. Every year I replant yards and they spend a bundle on that. But water it so it might have a chance to grow year after year? Haaaiill no! A man told me the other day he wanted his yard to look as good as his neighbors yards and ask me what we needed to do. I said we can plant fescue like the rest but it better put in a sprinkler system if the grass is going to have a chance. He said "I have never seen them water their grass" They dont water their grass he said. I said thats because you are never at home when they do. DUH! I didnt say the duh part to him LOL. He works from 7 to 7 6 days a week. Just because of the water factor he hasnt mentioned it anymore. People so stupid

[Samurai WeedWacker]

Also push aeration since it aids absorption of water.

[dhicks]

No rain here in almost western Maryland. Grass is starting to go dormant. Calling for rain on Friday night but I don't believe it.

The long range forcast at http://www.accuweather.com looks like we will have an above normal amout of rain for the next ninty days. Unfortunately, I don't have much confidence.

[Charles]

I cut a yard today and their was so much dirt kicked up that i had to stop the mower to see the little grass that was their and what i had been over. This was in the peoples back yard.

[powerreel]

Even in wet Seattle they say no irrigation this summer, not offical yet but parks say no water on turf this summer. That means you rotary guys need to get reels and mow only a bit in spring and in the fall and visit infrequently in the summer.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1472735&a=11082905&p=47830869

[Mowin4cash]

I think about the upcoming dry weather and say, "Alright, I can finally spend some time in the water, fishing"! Wouldn't mind working 4-5 days a week for a while instead of 7 anyway.

[Samurai WeedWacker]

Faucet timers for outdoor use are about $10 each at Walmart. Reccomend to your customers they get one for the front yard and one for the back, to make watering the lawn less of a hassle. They can turn on the sprinklers once a day and not have to worry about turning them off.