Heat wave coming to Utah, lawn won’t need any extra water

SALT LAKE CITY – The Wasatch Front is expected to get a late-season heat wave later this week. However, a local horticulturist said your lawn won’t need extra water. On Wednesday, the forecasted high for Salt Lake City is 90 degrees. Temperatures are expected to stay in the upper 80s until Sunday. “It’s no harm at all,” said Utah State University horticulturist and co-host of the KSL Greenhouse show Taun Beddes. “If (lawns) are established more than one year and they’re healthy right now, they’ll come out [in] late March or April of next year and just be green like nothing ever happened.” According to Beddes, as long as lawns are healthy and at least a year old, they’ll only need one more good watering before Oct. 1. After that, they won’t need any more until spring. “A 90-degree temperature actually isn’t unhealthy for a lawn,” Beddes said. “Their ideal growing temperatures are actually between 70 and 90 [degrees].” Per Beddes, lawns don’t start seeing more stress until temperatures are between 95 and 100 degrees. The Wasatch Front is not expected to get that hot for the rest of the year. There are a couple of exceptions, like new lawns and coniferous trees. Beddes said those need to be watered until the winter rain and snow starts falling. Most water users might not be able to use secondary water for much longer anyway. Many water managers are planning to shut off secondary water for the year by Oct. 15, some as early as Oct. 1.

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