YardScaping During a Drought
Maine experienced a severe drought during peak growing season in 2025. Here are some helpful tips for yard and garden mainetenance when your region is experiencing drought conditions.
For lawns:
- Allow the grass to go dormant (change from green to brown). If the grass feels fleshy but is brown in color, it will come back with cooler and wetter weather. 
- Lightly water grass (about 1/2”) every two weeks to keep moisture in the soil without breaking the dormancy. 
- Keep grass tall to shade out the soil and help keep moisture. Don’t mow during a drought, it will stress out and damage your lawn. 
- Don’t fertilizer or apply compost tea, this will break the dormancy too early! 
- Healthy lawns can survive in a dormant state for four to six weeks without rainfall or irrigation. 
For gardens:
- Water deeply (1”) once a week in the early morning. 
- Increase weeding to reduce water competition with desired plants. 
- Don’t fertilize or apply compost tea. 
- Dead head flowering plants early to prevent it from using valuable energy and water forming seeds. 
 
                         
            