MONTANA: Let Your Lawn Be a Dirty Hippie For a While

Grow your hair long and don't shower for a while. Your lawn, that is. The grass will be fine and we have drought conditions, my friend. Trust me. I've been experimenting already.

Bozeman and several other Montana municipalities are facing some serious water usage issues and now is the time to reduce water demand. It's certainly a possibility that restrictions on water use could be issued.

There is no award given around here for "greenest lawn in the middle of summer".

TERRIFYING FACT OF THE WEEK: On Monday, June 28th, 2021 Bozeman's water usage from out water treatment plant was 9.7 MILLION GALLONS. The highest demand day in 2020 was on August 17th with 9.1 MILLION GALLONS.

Considering we're looking at another week and a half of 90+ temperatures for southwest Montana and 100+ temps for some counties in eastern Montana, this sort of usage is not sustainable.

CHILL OUT AND DON'T MOW: The longer your grass is, the more moisture it will hold and the less you'll have to water to keep it looking 'acceptable'. I haven't mowed my lawn for 2 weeks and it doesn't look bad at all. Longer than usual? Sure. I also haven't had to water ANY OF IT in 4 days.

Hey, if xeriscaping or rock gardens have been on your radar...this might be the year to make those changes. We're obsessed with our lawns and I'm not sure why. I've removed several chunks of lawn over the years and it's AWESOME. Zero maintenance and zero water needed.

PROBLEM AREAS: Sure, there will be brown spots. For instance, I've got a strip of lawn that is parallel to the street which is now brown. It will be that way for the rest of the summer. Even under the best of circumstances, the cement curb just gets so hot that no amount of water is going to keep it green. Let it go.

Please consider adjusting your sprinkler system timer if it's not already on a conservative setting. Hell, if you don't know how to re-program it just turn it off for a few days and let your lawn grown longer. You can always turn it back on again. That's how they work.