Do as – As parts of the D.C. region sit in moderate or severe drought, a Virginia Tech turf expert says the best move for stressed lawns is to back off—especially by cutting back on mowing and skipping fertilizer until fall.
When the lawn starts to look thin or patchy. it can be tempting to respond with a quick fix—new fertilizer. a sharper mowing schedule. maybe even more time on the yard to “get it back.” But for grass already under drought stress. Daniel Sandor says the smartest response is often the hardest: do less.
“Do as little as possible,” said Daniel Sandor, an assistant professor of turf grass science at Virginia Tech. “The grass knows what to do. It can recover.”
In the D.C. region, where lawns are seeing either moderate or severe drought depending on location, Sandor said cool-season grasses—such as fescue and bluegrass—are the ones most affected by drought stress. Right now, he focused on one immediate goal: limit anything that adds extra strain.
That starts with mowing. Since drought means the grass isn’t getting enough water to grow, Sandor said there’s often little reason to keep trying to push growth. When you do mow, he urged raising the mowing height to at least three inches, or as high as your mower will go.
He also stressed a “one-third” rule: never cut more than one-third of the blade in a single mow. Sandor said he’s an advocate for mowing at higher heights in general. because it reduces stress on the turf and helps roots grow deeper. With roots reaching farther into the soil, those plants are better positioned to access moisture once drought conditions ease.
“If we’re just mowing short all the time, those roots aren’t really going very far,” Sandor said.
The fertilizer impulse is understandable, but Sandor warned against reaching for it now. Skipping fertilizer, he said, is not about giving up—it’s about timing. If the soil is already dry. there’s limited ability for fertilizer to break down in the soil solution. and there’s also less active energy for roots to absorb nutrients.
Instead, Sandor said to wait until fall, when root growth is most active and nutrients are more readily absorbed.
Even backyard life has to be handled a little differently during drought. If you’re planning a cookout on the grass or letting kids have a birthday party outside. Sandor said it’s fine to do so—as long as you’re aware that extra foot traffic adds stress. He said the lawn should still bounce back once rain returns.
Looking ahead, Sandor said the best drought defense doesn’t begin in summer. For next year, he recommended fertilizing in the fall and conducting a soil test every three years so homeowners know what nutrients their lawns actually need.
“That really helps the turf in terms of root growth and shoot growth during those times of active growth, really be fortified,” Sandor said. “That should ultimately improve their drought resistance if they’re healthy going into the drought period.”
Virginia Tech Daniel Sandor turf grass science drought lawn care D.C. region bluegrass fescue mowing height one-third rule fertilizer soil test