Call it what you will, but a severe lack of rain is bringing drought-like conditions to the Grand Valley and lawns are suffering for it.

Watching your lush, green lawn turn into a huge, brown patch is heartbreaking. And it seems as though, once it turns that way, you can't get it back to green. Let's face it, dealing with your lawn in the desert is an uphill battle, to begin with.

But, as the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so let's see what the professionals have to say about it.

Raise Mower Blades

Not cutting your lawn so far down can allow it to protect itself a bit better than if you close cut your lawn. Keeping your grass a little longer can help keep more moisture in the lawn, as the longer grass can actually help keep your soil cooler and allow for less water usage to keep it green. Keep in mind, though, that your lawn, despite watering efforts, will still turn a bit brown. But once the temperature starts to decline a little and more moisture is able to stay in the lawn, the more the green will reappear.

Balance your lawn

Keeping the right mix of grass, shrubs, and trees can have a positive effect on your lawn. Water usage can actually decrease if you have the right mix.

Have and stick to a watering plan

You can actually shock your lawn by watering it if you haven't been watering it at all, or very little. Not watering your lawn for a week at a time is going to kill it, no matter what you try to do. Instead, have a plan, and stick to it. If you're going to water for 5 minutes every day, then stick to it. Or ten minutes every other day. If you don't, when you do water, you can shock your lawn and kill it, even though you are watering it.

Embrace the brown

Lawn professionals will tell you the lawn knows what is going on when it turns brown, becoming dormant until it's time to reappear. If you stick to your schedule and feed your lawn correctly, that brown will become green again once the conditions allow it.

A pretty, green lawn is what everyone loves to see. Take these, and a few other steps and watch your lawn look great day after day, week after week.