Happy summer! Happy, healthy lawns!

Posted June 20th, 2012 in Climate Ready Communities, Healthy Waters, Water Resource Economics

Today is the first day of summer! Perhaps this leads you outside to attend to your lawn and garden. And, with the weather being pretty dry lately, lawns and gardens may indeed take extra care.

While the obvious answer to this year’s drought advisory may be to water the lawn, this may not be the best solution. Brown grass is a sign that the lawn is entering a period of dormancy, a normal state for the cool-season perennial grasses that comprise the majority of Illinois and Indiana lawns. So, you may need to decide whether to let your lawn go dormant in the summer or continue watering.

 
IISG’s Margaret Schneemann is the coordinator for Lawn to Lake, a project to encourage natural lawn care, thereby helping to reduce the amount of pesticides and fertilizers that end up in our waters. But, conserving water use is key as well. Here are her tips:
 

My neighbors are asking me why my lawn is looking greener than theirs even though I am not irrigating the lawn. The trick is following a natural lawn care program that increases the drought-tolerance of the lawn, extending the greening of the lawn longer into the summer season. For established lawns, a few simple natural lawn care steps include:

          *·     Mow lawn high throughout the summer (3-3.5 inches).
          *.      Water deeply once per week in the morning.
          *.      Avoid pesticide use on drought stressed lawns. 
    *.   Do not apply excess nitrogen fertilizer in the summer; wait until the fall. 
    *.   Aerate and overseed to prevent thatch and increase turf density.

 

If you decide to let the lawn go dormant, the question to ask is: How much water does it take to keep the lawn alive? For a lawn that is drying out, applying 1/3 inch of water every three weeks will keep your lawn dormant, but ready to green up again when conditions improve.
 
If you aren’t considering letting your lawn go dormant, keep these point in mind:
*·     Maintaining a green lawn in hot summer conditions can double the  amount of watering necessary to maintain the lawn (two inches per week).
*       Watering needs to be done before the lawn becomes dormant, when the very first signs of drought stress appear. DO NOT start watering a lawn that has already browned and entered a state of dormancy, as it will stress the grass plants, promote weeds, and encourage undesirable insects, such as grubs, to take up residence in the lawn.
·*      Many municipalities have lawn watering restrictions during these hotter summer months when increasing water demand for lawn irrigation is at its peak. Familiarize yourself with any lawn watering restrictions and adjust your watering schedule accordingly.
For more information, visit lawntolakemidwest.org.

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Looking for a fun way to teach about marine debris? Check out Me and Debry, which is a whimsical, 30‑minute, audience‑participation play created for @UWiscSeaGrant. It helps students explore what marine debris is, why it matters, and how we can make a difference in the Great Lakes.

The full script (English) and participation scripts (English, Spanish, and Hmong) are free to use, along with marketing materials for performances.

Bring learning to life and start a conversation about litter in our waters!

Check it out at the link in bio.

#TeachingTuesday

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18104492783310070
Looking for a fun way to teach about marine debris? Check out Me and Debry, which is a whimsical, 30‑minute, audience‑participation play created for @UWiscSeaGrant. It helps students explore what marine debris is, why it matters, and how we can make a difference in the Great Lakes.The full script (English) and participation scripts (English, Spanish, and Hmong) are free to use, along with marketing materials for performances.Bring learning to life and start a conversation about litter in our waters!Check it out at the link in bio.#TeachingTuesday

Do you work or live along the Great Lakes coasts? Watch our newly released video series collection, containing several short videos that overview the range of coastal protection options in the Great Lakes, including:

- Natural processes in the Great Lakes
- Hard coastal protection structures and how they interact with/alter natural processes
- Nature-based coastal solutions in the Great Lakes, ranging from green to gray approaches

Find our two new video series at the link in bio.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18075599984541727
Do you work or live along the Great Lakes coasts? Watch our newly released video series collection, containing several short videos that overview the range of coastal protection options in the Great Lakes, including:- Natural processes in the Great Lakes- Hard coastal protection structures and how they interact with/alter natural processes- Nature-based coastal solutions in the Great Lakes, ranging from green to gray approachesFind our two new video series at the link in bio.

Located in Washington, D.C., the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources, and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. This is a one-year fellowship open to any student, regardless of citizenship, who is enrolled toward a degree in a graduate or professional program on the day of the deadline.

Students enrolled at an Illinois or Indiana university or college should submit their applications through Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant by emailing Angela Archer at amcbride@purdue.edu. Students in surrounding states without a Sea Grant program should contact the National Sea Grant College Program at oar.sg.fellows@noaa.gov for a referral.

Application deadline: June 3, 2026.

To learn more about the fellowship, visit the link in bio.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18136822375511465
Located in Washington, D.C., the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources, and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. This is a one-year fellowship open to any student, regardless of citizenship, who is enrolled toward a degree in a graduate or professional program on the day of the deadline.Students enrolled at an Illinois or Indiana university or college should submit their applications through Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant by emailing Angela Archer at amcbride@purdue.edu. Students in surrounding states without a Sea Grant program should contact the National Sea Grant College Program at oar.sg.fellows@noaa.gov for a referral. Application deadline: June 3, 2026.To learn more about the fellowship, visit the link in bio.