Heat Stress and Irrigation Practices in Lawn Grass

Across Elmore County most home landscapes are composed of lawn grass and during this time of year the summer heat starts taking a toll on the aesthetics of our home landscapes causing the grass to turn brown. So – exactly what is happening and why is this occurring?
Well to start off we occupy a sagebrush steppe high desert landscape with very high temperatures during the mid-summer (July-August) and little natural precipitation during this time. Though there are rare exceptions, most of the irrigation to maintain lawn grass is pumped from private/municipal wells throughout Elmore County.