Dry Spots
Dry spots in the lawn can be caused by insufficient water, disease,  herbicide damage and soil compaction - to name a few.
With the heat, wind and drought, it’s not unusual for dry spots to  appear. With irrigation systems, dry spots can be caused by poor design,  deficient water pressure, misaligned sprinklers, broken or damaged  sprinkler heads and wind drift. Audit your system to see what’s what.
Tuna or cat food cans are very helpful with auditing. Get irrigation  auditing instructions from your county extension office.
Take all root rot (TARR) can cause dead areas in St. Augustine and  Bermuda grass. These dead spots typically appear during spring green up.
The disease can attack grass at anytime, but fall infection is common  and subtle. Most home gardeners don’t notice it, but have areas dead,  yellow or declining grass in the spring.
Look at yellow or declining grass runners to see if roots are short and  rotted. In most cases damaged lawns begin to recover and spread in mid  to late summer.
Reduce TARR by fertilzing with ammonium sulphate (21-0-0), using sulfur,  and top dressing with one inch of sphagnum peat moss. The peat moss can  be reapplied in the fall as well as the following spring. These steps  help acidify the top inch or so of soil and TARR can’t survive in an  acid environment. Make sure to meet the other plant needs such as light,  water, proper pest management and mowing for the best results.

Easy on the manure
Problems with your vegetable garden? Generous amounts of animal manures,  especially bovine, can cause yellowing, burning and even plant death.
Manures  can be high in salts and phosphorus. The excess salts can  enhance seed germination, but damage seedlings shortly after they  emerge. Excess salts can cause burning of the leaves and roots and tie  up minor nutrients like iron and zinc, which can cause yellowing and  stunting.
Limit the use of manure to about a one-inch layer and then supplement  that with 2-3 inches other organic matter materials. Composting manures  before using them can reduce problems. Horse and rabbit manures are less  likely to burn.

Windy conditions
Besides the aggravation, high winds take a toll on plant growth. Wind  speeds increase plant water loss by increasing the evapotranspiration  rate. Ninety percent of the water a plant takes up transpires or moves  into the atmosphere but this increases with heat, wind, low humidity and  wind speed.
Plants that are better adapted to the arid regions often are smaller,  thicker, shinier and/or covered in hairs. These are adaptations that  slow the loss of water from the plant and allow it  to survive in  dry times.
There are many plants that will withstand periods of drought with no  additional water or with occasional supplemental water.

Tom Dominguez is an agent with the Quay County Extension, NMSU Extension Service. He can be reached by emailing tdomingu@nmsu.edu or calling 461-0562.