The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) sponsors Watersaver Lane at the San Antonio Botanic Garden to educate visitors and encourage homeowners to grow drought tolerant grasses for their lawns.
Lawns Always Need Enough Soil
Among the many tenets of good gardening and lawn care that we’ve been preaching in our nationwide SafeLawns.org tour is the necessity and advantage of having enough soil depth. New research from the Texas Cooperative Extension Service, released April 17, shows just how important proper soil can be. In tests conducted in San Antonio, where drought and temperatures exceeding 100 degrees are common, grasses performed far better with soil depth exceeding four inches. Though the species of grass used in the tests were primarily warm-season varieties that would not perform well here in the north, the results would no doubt be valid for virtually all lawns.
At the test site, 200 grass plots measuring four-by-four feet were subjected to 60-day drought conditions. After the 60-day drought, the grasses were irrigated over a 60-day recovery period to see how they responded. Each was planted in a soil depth of four inches and also in unrestricted soil depth of 18 inches or more.
Under the conditions of the study, no grasses in the four-inch soil depth survived the 60-day simulated drought — but all 25 grasses with a native soil depth of 18 inches or more survived.
Researchers were excited by their findings, but realize more work needs to be done.
“Drought-resistance related to turf grass is complex and multifaceted,” said Dr. David Chalmers, Extension turfgrass specialist. “And while this study give us some good initial data, it doesn’t give us any information about how these grasses might perform at other soil depths, such as six-, eight- or 12-inch depths.”
The answer, however, is predictable. When it comes to good soil, more is always better. Without proper soil depth, you’ll be fighting to keep your grass healthy year after year.
SEASONAL NOTE: If you’re considering putting down corn gluten as crabgrass control on your lawn, do it now. The product must be on the ground while the forsythia is in bloom, or it will do no good against crabgrass, which germinates in April and early May in the Northeast.
Be wary of organic weed ’n feed products containing corn gluten as the active ingredient, since they are of little value as a weed control after the forsythia finishes blooming. Corn gluten is a great organic fertilizer, but is only valuable as a pre-emergent weed control. It will not inhibit any perennial or annual weeds that have already bloomed.
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