THE SUMMER OF ’22 brought severe drought to much of the US. In my section of southern New England we saw virtually no rain from June 21 to the beginning of September. I faithfully hand-watered lawn and garden whenever it was allowed. Still, in the sunniest areas the grass browned up badly and flowers and vegetables were wilting by noontime.
My neighbors and I confidently repeated to each other that our turf was just “dormant” and would come back with autumn’s shorter days and rains. Boy, were we wrong! Major portions of our lawns proved scorched dead. These sections were not coming back on their own anytime soon. Reseeding, sodding or plugging with more drought-resistant grasses would be necessary.
I found clues to what grass strains I should use for lawn restoration in a few areas of the yard I’d previously overseeded with turf-type tall fescue (TTTF) grasses. These little plots outperformed areas that were largely planted with Kentucky bluegrass and
