Experts: Lightning helps grass, plants grow
Much of the region got some much-needed rain and some flashes of thunder and lightning.
According to experts, those lightning bolts can be almost as beneficial to lawns and plants as the rain.
"Lawn grass really likes nitrogen and when you apply nitrogen fertilizer, they green up right away. There's a lot of nitrogen in the atmosphere, 78 percent nitrogen, but it's in a form that's not available to the grass," University of Arkansas associate professor of horticulture Doug Karcher said.
The chemical reaction from lightning helps to make that nitrogen readily available, making it nature's natural fertilizer.
"The heat and the energy within a lightning bolt induces a chemical change in the nitrogen and the oxygen in the atmosphere that wouldn't happen under normal atmospheric conditions," Karcher said.
So any grass near a strike can get some extra help, but overall the help from lightning is limited.
"What's most beneficial for the grass this time of the year is the water. The rainfall itself that's falling. It's a nice uniform watering with natural rainfall. And the green response you see after a thunderstorm is probably mostly due to the rain itself," Karcher said.
Even though lightning can help out plant growth, experts still recommend that you use fertilizer for actively growing grass.