Grass

By Megan Strader (WICHITA, Kan.) It's a task most of us take for granted as just something we have to do. But for people like Tonya, mowing the lawn is something she wishes she could do.  "I'd have to do the back yard and divide it in fourths and just do a fourth of it and wait two days to do the other fourth because my back is just bad...really bad. " She relies on a program called Neighborhood Connections to mow it for her. Volunteers stop by when they have time and take care of things like grass and bushes.

Fire crews put out three grass fires in Butler County Monday afternoon. The largest burned about ten acres and a burn near Douglass. No one was hurt. Crews stayed on the scene for several hours putting out hot spots. The fires come as Kansas and much of the country is dealing with record drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared more than half the counties natural disaster areas, including every county in Kansas.

Fire crews battled several grass fires around central and western Kansas Wednesday afternoon. An updated from the Adjutant General's office at 8:30 says the fires have been extinguished or contained. Fire crews remain on the scene of several fires, including one that burned in Phillips County, looking for flares ups. They'll likely remain on duty through the evening. The State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka was activated just before five o'clock Wednesday afternoon.

Where you live dictates the way your yard looks. Homeowners associations have several requirements, including what kind of grass to plant. But a Park City man says in order to save water, those rules need to change. He took his concerns to the Sedgwick County Commission Wednesday. With the sun burning bright this time of year, it can be a challenge to keep your grass bright.  "Homeowners associations want all the yards to look alike. They want them all nice and green," said Tim Null.

Josh Wiele's lawn is green, thick, and healthy. Sure, he's a Turf Manager for Ryan Lawn and Tree in Wichita. But you don't have to be. "A typical call for me is, Josh, why isn't my lawn green? We go out and address the issue," Wiele explained. The issue is often as simple as watering, which in these dry conditions can be a challenge. "We see a lot of signs of drought stress," he said. 'We usually don't see drought stress until mid to late June. " Drought stress is those brown patches that dot a lawn.

Fire departments from Lane County and surrounding communities were called to put out a massive grass fire. The fire started at 1:30pm Saturday in rural Lane County, near mile marker 96 on K-96. The Lane County Sheriff says the fire was an estimated 1 mile wide and 3 miles long, burning an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 acres. It took fire crews 8 hours to put out the fire in triple digit heat. All Lane County fire departments were called to the fire, including units from surrounding communities.

They're called putting GREENS, but the recent triple-digit weather and lack of rain have them looking for like BROWNS. We talked with Ron Reese with Wichita's MacDonald Golf Course.  He says the courses buy city water just like everyone else.  But, he says, many courses use bermuda grass which tolerates heat better than other varieties.  Reese tells us golfers understand. "Most golfers understand with the heat we've had," Reese said, "they've got a yard at home, they know what its like trying to take care of their own yard and they understand we're doing the best we can to give them the best playing conditions we can through the summer" Reese says there is a difference between this summer and last summer.   The temperature is dipping lower overnight, which helps the grass recuperate.

Your lawn does not need to be as green as money to be healthy. Some types of grass naturally browns to stay alive. "The lawn just goes dormant basically, typically it shouldn't die," said Marty Johnson of Johnson's Garden Center. "It will come back again later in the fall if it turns brown. If the crown of the grass is pretyt much gone, the lawn would be dead. " For the next several days, the temperatures will exceed 100 degrees. You might be tempted to water your lawn more often, but Johnson says that's a bad idea.

Cheyenne, Rawlins, and Sherman counties have all banned open burning within the county. This includes but not limited to controlled burning of grass or fields, fire pits, charcoal grills, trash, yard debris, and in many locations also restricts the use of fireworks. There are also burn bans in Anderson, Barton, Decatur, Franklin, Gove, Graham, Logan, Mitchell, Morton, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Rooks, Thomas and Trego. The city of Olathe has also issued a burn ban. The combination of above normal temperatures, below normal precipitation, low relative humidity, and wind has caused high fire risk for much of the area.

Grass isn't supposed to be higher than 12 inches in the city of Wichita. But in some places, the city may be in violation. A new mowing contractor is trying to keep-up with the growing grass and weeds inside the city's storm drainage ditches. But some residents are noticing it's falling behind. From sun up, to sun down, even on the weekends, the city contractor is trying to catch-up on a mowing schedule that's now a week behind. Steve Hedrick noticed the problem in Planeview a week ago.  His front porch looks-out over a drainage ditch.

Emergency crews have their hands full with a grass fire in eastern Sedgwick County. Crews from several departments are battling the fire and windy conditions at Greenwich and K-254. The fire burned roughly 30 acres of land, but no buildings were damaged. We contacted several surrounding counties, all of them have dealt with grass and brush fires today. None had any active fires as of right now, though.

Winter usually means not having to worry much about your trees, lawns and gardens.  But the prolonged drought means taking a more active role now, to make sure your plants bounce back in the spring. If can be difficult to tell if dormant trees and grass are stressed and not getting enough water.  Eric Denneler with Tree Top Nursery says that means paying attention to the weather and watering.  "Probably the biggest thing to consider is how recently was your plant planted.

At first it was thought to be an oil field explosion,  but now Reno County authorities say the issue was actually a grass fire. The grass fire is out, but for a short time it prompted road closures on Trail West Road from K-17 to Valley Pride.  The roads were closed because of gas lines in the area. It's unclear right now why there was confusion between an explosion and grass fire.  The Reno County Sheriff previously said residents felt the ground shake within a half mile radius.

Dry and windy conditions kept firefighters busy Thursday afternoon as they battled a large grass fire in Wilson County. Click Here for Damage Photos Several outbuildings were destroyed in the area, but no homes were damaged. There are no reports of serious injuries, but two firefighters were treated briefly for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion. The fire burned rought three square miles of farm land along Highway 400 south of Fredonia.

Firefighters continue to monitor hot spots into the night after a large grass fire started near El Dorado.  "It takes almost nothing to start one of these fires," Butler County Emergency Management Director Jim Schmidt says.  "We've had fires started by lightening the other day--we've had chains dragging.  There's just no moisture. " Thirty trucks from ten departments responded. Four homes were threatened by the flames.  Firefighters evacuated the residents and were able to save their houses from the fire.

Fire crews put out three grass fires in Butler County Monday afternoon. The largest burned about ten acres and a burn near Douglass. No one was hurt. Crews stayed on the scene for several hours putting out hot spots. The fires come as Kansas and much of the country is dealing with record drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared more than half the counties natural disaster areas, including every county in Kansas.

They're called putting GREENS, but the recent triple-digit weather and lack of rain have them looking for like BROWNS. We talked with Ron Reese with Wichita's MacDonald Golf Course.  He says the courses buy city water just like everyone else.  But, he says, many courses use bermuda grass which tolerates heat better than other varieties.  Reese tells us golfers understand. "Most golfers understand with the heat we've had," Reese said, "they've got a yard at home, they know what its like trying to take care of their own yard and they understand we're doing the best we can to give them the best playing conditions we can through the summer" Reese says there is a difference between this summer and last summer.   The temperature is dipping lower overnight, which helps the grass recuperate.

Crews from nearly a dozen departments battled a fire in Rice County Wednesday afternoon. The fire burned several acres near the town of Little River. Click here for photos from the fire Flames destroyed one house. An abandoned house, a railroad trestle bridge and outbuildings were also destroyed. There are no reports of any injuries. Crews spent Wednesday evneing putting out hotspots and keeping an eye on the wind. The fire started when a piece of farm equipment overheated.

The fire was first noticed by a parent who was dropping their child off at Exploration Place for summer camp there.  Eyewitnesses say the fire started after a man with a weed whacker went by. Check out photos from the scene Firefighters arrived within minutes of the report and quickly put the small grass fire out.  Crews later determined that the device was an edger which can throw sparks if the blade strikes the sidewalk....

Cheyenne, Rawlins, and Sherman counties have all banned open burning within the county. This includes but not limited to controlled burning of grass or fields, fire pits, charcoal grills, trash, yard debris, and in many locations also restricts the use of fireworks. There are also burn bans in Anderson, Barton, Decatur, Franklin, Gove, Graham, Logan, Mitchell, Morton, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Rooks, Thomas and Trego. The city of Olathe has also issued a burn ban. The combination of above normal temperatures, below normal precipitation, low relative humidity, and wind has caused high fire risk for much of the area.