All about watering your lawn

I try and educate as many people as I can about this topic. It is probably one of the most important items in this list to pay attention to. To maintain a healthy lawn you need to make sure it gets adequate hydration. Your lawn needs 2 inches of water per week. This may increase to 2 inches of water twice per week in hotter climates or drought seasons. By getting down into the soil 2 inches you’ll promote great root structure for your turf (I may refer to your lawn as turf from time to time). By just dampening the soil or watering your lawn everyday a little bit will only allow the water to just penetrate the soil. This will make for a very shallow root system…exactly what you do not want. Shallow root systems will be susceptible to drought die back, lawn tearing (from your mower or heavy traffic) and insects will be able to mow through your lawn in record timing.

‘Well Richard, when is the best time to water your lawn’

Just before dawn is the best time to water your lawn. This gives your lawn plenty of time to dry during the day. You want to maximize the amount of water consistent with good growth but with the least amount of surface wetness.

How do you know if you watered 2 inches?

Well the easiest way to tell (not the most accurate, but it is a good way to get an idea) is to lay out a few containers and turn on your irrigation / sprinklers. When you have about 2 inches of water in the container, then you could assume that you have watered 2 inches into the ground. You can also get a water meter that will attach to you water tap and you can monitor the amount of water that goes out. Or perhaps the best and most accurate way is to take soil sample plugs in a few different locations and visually see how far down the moisture is going.

Whats wrong with watering everyday?

Well not only is it a waste of water and money, another good reason too much water can be harmful to your lawn is that it creates a perfect environment for pests and diseases. A healthy lawn needs to become dry between waterings as well. Turf that is allowed to dry will send roots further down into the soil to find new moisture.

Now of course there are exceptions to everything. Golf courses water just about everyday (weather permitting), but they use a very different soil structure then your lawn at home. If your soil for your lawn is compacted you may experience water runoff or pooling. Therefore, your lawn will not absorb the water it will most likely evaporate. In this case it is time to aerate…but that is a different article.

Cheers,