When it Comes to Your Lawn, Brown is the New Green

For homeowners struggling with water sprinklers and irrigation systems as a way to keep their lawns green during the heat, it may turn out to be a waste of time. The only ling likely to grow in the stifling heat is your water bill.

"There's not much you can do," said Bill Richardet, owner of Bi-State Landscape Supply. "(Lawns) will come back once we get some rain and cooler weather."

Richardet says watering a lawn won't hurt anything, but it's not likely to green-up the grass, since the stressed-out blades likely have gone dormant as a way to cope with the stress of the extreme heat.

"The grass may come back in places and not in other places," Richardet said, adding that other factors such as soil condition, topsoil depth and the overall health of a lawn are important factors in the survival of grasses, flowers, trees and other home flora.

"This weather will kill anything with a weakness," Richardet said. "there will even be trees die from the heat."

Richardet said Zoysia grasses may fare better in the heat than the fescues and Kentucky bluegrasses, but everything is susceptible to the extreme temperatures.

"(Zoysia) will show the least amount of stress," he said.

Homeowners may have to revel in the idea that "brown is the new green" since the only thing that appears possible for a green lawn is to wait until fall and hope everything grows again.