Every July, the same call comes in three or four times a week: "My lawn was beautiful in May and now it's brown — what happened?" The honest answer for 90% of Fairfax County and Burke homeowners is that the lawn is doing exactly what tall fescue is supposed to do in 95°F humidity — it is going dormant. The grass is not dead. It is conserving water.
The other 10% have a real problem: brown patch fungus, grub damage, or chinch bug stress that mimics drought browning but is actually killing the lawn. This is the Kaeler 2026 guide to telling the difference, what to do (and not do) in each case, and how to set the lawn up to green back in September.
The short answer: most July browning is dormancy, not death
Tall fescue — the dominant turf in Fairfax County, Burke, Springfield, and most of Northern Virginia — is a cool-season grass. It thrives at 60–75°F. When daytime highs sit above 87°F and nighttime lows stay above 70°F for more than 5–7 consecutive days, tall fescue goes into protective dormancy. The crown of the plant stays alive; the leaves brown out to conserve water.
| What it looks like | What it is |
|---|---|
| Uniform browning across the entire lawn | Dormancy (normal July) |
| Brown patches with rings, especially in shaded areas | Brown patch fungus |
| Brown patches that lift up like a rug | Grub damage |
| Brown along driveway and walkway edges | Heat stress + reflective heat from hardscape |
| Brown in dry corners but green elsewhere | Localized drought, not dormancy |
| Brown stripes following mower path | Mower-induced stress (dull blade or cut too short) |
How to tell if your lawn is dormant or dead
The dormancy vs death test takes 60 seconds in your front yard:
1. Pull a brown plant. If the crown at the soil surface is white or pale green, the plant is alive and dormant. If the crown is brown and dry, the plant is dead. 2. Tug a section. Dormant grass holds firm in the soil. Grub-damaged or fungus-killed grass lifts up easily, like a rug rolling. 3. Look at the green:brown ratio. A lawn that is 80% brown but with green at the very base and along edges is dormant. A lawn that is uniformly brown with no green at the base is in trouble. 4. Check after 4–6 days of mid-70s nighttime temperatures. Dormant lawns start showing green-up within a week of cooler nights. A lawn that does not green up with cool weather is past dormancy.
What to do for a dormant lawn (the 90% case)
Tall fescue dormancy in July is normal. What homeowners do during the dormant phase has a big impact on whether the lawn comes back strong in September.
Water deeply, infrequently — or not at all
For a dormant lawn, deep watering once per week (roughly 1 inch of water in a single application) keeps the crowns alive. Avoid daily light watering — it encourages shallow roots and fungus.
For a lawn that is fully dormant and the owner accepts the brown look until fall, no watering at all also works. The crowns survive 4–6 weeks without water in NoVA summer.
Mow high
Raise the mower deck to 3.5–4 inches. Taller grass shades the soil, reduces water loss, and keeps the crowns cooler. Mowing short during July heat is one of the fastest ways to convert dormant grass into dead grass.
Skip fertilizer
Fertilizing dormant cool-season grass in July is wasted fertilizer at best and damaging at worst. The next fertilizer application should be September, as part of fall renovation.
Skip weed control
Pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides are stressful on already-stressed turf. Wait for September.
Stay off the lawn
Foot traffic on dormant grass crushes the crowns. Keep kids and dogs off the worst spots if possible. Setup outdoor furniture, summer activity, and dog runs on hardscape or in shaded grass areas.
What to do for fungus, grubs, or chinch bugs (the 10% case)
If the lawn fails the dormancy test — pull-up, lift-test, or no green at the base — there is an active problem that needs treatment.
Brown patch fungus
Symptoms: circular or irregular brown patches, often with a darker green outer ring (a "smoke ring") visible early morning when dew is present. Common in shady, humid spots and during stretches of warm rainy weather. Fairfax County's June-July humidity is peak brown patch season.
Treatment: a fungicide application (propiconazole or azoxystrobin) labeled for tall fescue lawns. Two applications spaced 14 days apart. Most NoVA brown patch outbreaks respond well to treatment if caught early.
Grub damage
Symptoms: brown patches that lift up like a rug because the grubs have eaten the roots. Often accompanied by skunk or raccoon damage as wildlife digs for the grubs. Peak damage is mid-July through August.
Treatment: a curative grub control product (containing chlorantraniliprole or trichlorfon) applied per label directions. Best prevented with a preventative application in May or June — see our Fairfax County aeration and overseeding guide for the full annual schedule.
Chinch bugs
Symptoms: irregular brown patches in full-sun areas, usually starting in late June and worsening through July. Damaged grass does not lift up (so it is not grubs), and there is no smoke ring (so it is not brown patch).
Treatment: an insecticide application targeted to chinch bugs. Less common in NoVA than the previous two, but real.
What's the difference between heat stress and drought
Two related but distinct stressors:
| Heat stress | Drought | |
|---|---|---|
| Cause | Air temperature above 87°F sustained | Soil moisture depleted |
| Visible symptom | Uniform browning, follows hottest days | Browning that follows shade pattern (sunny spots brown first) |
| Watering helps? | Modestly | Significantly |
| Mowing height helps? | Significantly | Significantly |
| Recovery once cool weather returns | Fast (1–2 weeks) | Fast if watered |
Most July browning in Fairfax County is a combination of both. Heat stress accelerates drought as the grass tries to cool itself by transpiration.
Why your neighbor's lawn looks greener than yours
Three common reasons:
1. They have an irrigation system running 3–4 days per week. Their lawn is not dormant; it is being kept actively growing through the heat. Not always best practice (encourages fungus), but visually different. 2. They are mowing higher than you. A 4-inch cut stays green much longer than a 2-inch cut. 3. They have warm-season turf (zoysia, bermuda). Less common in Fairfax County but increasing — these grasses thrive in summer and look brown in winter. Some Burke and Springfield lots have zoysia interplanted with fescue.
Setting up for the September comeback
The work that produces a strong September green-up happens before, not during, August. The Kaeler standard summer-recovery schedule is:
| Week | Action |
|---|---|
| Last week July | Soil pH test, plan aeration date |
| Mid August | Pre-aeration cleanup, schedule core aeration |
| Early–mid September | Core aerate + overseed with tall fescue blend, starter fertilizer |
| Two weeks post-seed | Light watering daily until germination |
| Mid October | First post-renovation fertilizer application |
Following this schedule, even a fully-dormant July lawn comes back green by mid-October. For the full schedule and the seed blends we use, see our fall lawn renovation schedule for Fairfax.
Frequently asked questions
Should I water my lawn every day in July in Fairfax County?
No. Daily light watering encourages shallow roots and brown patch fungus. Either water deeply once per week (1 inch in a single application) or let the lawn go dormant naturally.
How long can tall fescue stay dormant before it dies?
A healthy tall fescue lawn can stay dormant for 4–6 weeks in NoVA summer conditions and still recover when cooler weather returns. Past 6 weeks of complete drought plus heat, you start losing plants.
Will the brown patches come back green on their own?
Dormant patches — yes, within 2 weeks of cooler nights. Dead patches (failed pull-up test, lifted-up roots) — no, those areas need to be overseeded in September.
Is it too late to aerate and overseed in August?
In Northern Virginia, mid-August is the earliest reasonable aeration date for tall fescue. Most Fairfax County lawns are aerated and overseeded between September 7 and October 5 — when nighttime lows drop into the 50s and daytime highs are below 80°F.
Should I switch to a warm-season grass like zoysia?
For most NoVA homeowners, no. Zoysia and bermuda look brown October through May — which is more than half the year. The summer green-up does not offset the long winter dormancy for most homeowners' priorities. The exception: pool decks and full-sun, low-shade lots where summer comfort outweighs winter appearance.
Does my lawn care company recommend not cutting in July?
We recommend reducing frequency, not skipping. Bi-weekly mowing at a higher deck (3.5–4 inches) is standard Kaeler practice for July and August on tall fescue. Weekly cutting at low height is the fastest path from dormant to dead.
Ready for a lawn rescue or fall renovation?
If your lawn is browning and you want to know whether it is dormancy or a real problem — book a free lawn site visit and we will diagnose on the spot.
We serve Fairfax, Burke, Springfield, Annandale, Vienna, and the rest of the 18 NoVA cities we serve. See all areas we serve. For our deeper take on the native plants that thrive in NoVA conditions, see our piece on native plants for Fairfax County.
