Is your grass dead or just dormant? - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The drought turned most lawns brown this summer, making it hard to tell if the grass was dead or simply dormant.

Dormancy normally lasts about six to eight weeks. After that, you will have your work cut out for you.

It is an odd year when gray is good, brown acceptable and green the exception.

"It feels like we are getting a little rain," said Patty Evard, who runs the Garden Center on the Indianapolis north side.

"There are a lot of people who are very nervous because they see their lawn turning brown and they know they can't water it. They just want to know if their lawn will live or die," she said.

"I noticed after two or three rains we had, it got green. Looks real good. Well, not back to normal but it's looking good," said Mae Vandever, homeowner.

Mae Vandever has lived in the same home for over 40 years and she is hard pressed to remember her lawn ever being this dry.

"Like I said, I will have to reseed there too," she said, pointing out a sad spot on the lawn.

So with a little bit of rain comes a little bit of hope and even a little bit of green. But now the question is: Is it too early to think about reseeding?

"Normally we would think about reseeding mid-August to early September. You can't reseed if you can't water," said Evard.

Not everyone is in the swing of things, however. Mandy Mary has more important things to take care of than the lawn at present.

"I think we will let it go and see what happens next year. We don't have any plans of seeding it or anything," she said as she pushed one of her children on a swing while another played nearby.

The general rule of thumb is a lawn will go into dormancy for up to six to eight weeks without water.

"If you are in a hot dry spell for longer than that without any water you are probably going to suffer some losses," said Evard.

If you need to reseed you might try rye grass because it germinates faster. Then you can overseed with blue grass in the spring. You can try to reseed just after winter's last snowfall.

Read more: Dead vs. dormant grass