QuickTake:

Two-thirds of the water used here in the summer goes to lawn watering. 

If you could magically change the color of your lawn what color would you choose? Red? Yellow? Purple? How about gold? Well you can, and you should. You will save a lot of green in the process, and cut down on pests at the same time.

Grass in Oregon naturally turns golden or tan in the summer (not brown). Just look at all the brown hills that will faithfully turn green again when the fall and winter rains return.

Of course you can keep your lawn green by watering, but if you stop — or never start — the grass will go dormant, not die. In a desert climate, the dry season is too long for the grass to survive, but here, three months of low rainfall is normal, and the grass is well adapted.

This is perfectly healthy grass during the Oregon summer, and it will green up when the rains start again. Credit: John Fischer

Letting the grass dry out is the best way to reduce or eliminate crane fly larvae. They need moist soil to mature. Just one month is effective, but three months is even better.

And you don’t need to let all the grass go dormant.

Putting down about an inch of water a week on a small area for outdoor dining and a spot for kids to play can keep the grass green while the rest of the lawn stops getting water during the summer.

Tuna cans, or a water gauge like Eugene Water & Electric Board’s green-grass gauge, can help you know how much water you are using. Most people water more than they need to.

And a cool week will mean even lower water requirements. EWEB has handy watering recommendations.   

One more plus: You won’t have to mow. That might be enough to convince some folks to take the golden steps.

But even more important — especially in this dry, low snowpack year — is water conservation. Two thirds of the water consumed here in the summer is used to water lawns — 6,000 to 8,000 gallons per yard each month. And that is all water that is not available for fish and other wildlife at the time of year they need it most.

Watering twice a week in the early morning is most efficient if you have spots you really want to keep green, but going for the gold is something you should consider for the rest of the summer. You could make some trout very happy.