Source:  NCSU COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, 5/28/21


We often talk about the challenges to growing warm-season and cool-season grasses in the transition zone. In our landscapes, two commonly planted turfgrasses are tall fescue and zoysiagrass. Over time, it seems some months favor tall fescue (cool-season turfgrass) and in other months the conditions may favor zoysiagrass (warm-season turfgrass). Other turfgrasses can be substituted in this discussion. For instance, bermudagrass can be especially hardy during the warm months, but may still suffer the effects of the winters or cool springs.

I mention this now because we presently find ourselves in a tough situation for most of our turfgrasses. The latest NC Drought Update (May 25, 2021) has most of eastern NC at 4 or more inches below normal for the season. Raleigh has received just 4.9 inches of rain since March 1 – its driest spring-to-date on record. This is in sharp contrast to weather conditions from November 2020 – February 2021, where we Raleigh had between 5 and 7 inches each of those months. In fact, 3 months into the year we were having our wettest year on record in Raleigh.

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