How to water your lawn, by doing this your yard will not look arid and will be cooler and tend to be shady.
You might be wondering why you would need to learn how to water the lawn.
Surely it’s just a matter of turning on the hosepipe, walking around and getting the grass a bit wet, or just leaving the sprinklers running for a while.
No, there’s actually a bit more to it than that, especially in these times of water shortages.
Now that communities around the world are facing water use restrictions, it’s more important than ever to observe good conservation and lawn management practices.
Here are 5 Tips on How to Water Your Lawn
Water requirements
The amount of water your lawn needs will depend on a range of factors. These include the type of grass, the climate and season, the soil, and how green you want it to be as well as how well you maintain it.
In the growing season, you’ll need to give the turf around an inch of water per week to sustain growth and keep it green.
You can get away with a good deal less than an inch if you choose a drought-resistant variety of cool season grass. Some warm-season grasses are less thirsty too.
In general, though, watering more will encourage the roots to grow deep where there’s more moisture, resulting in a lusher, healthier lawn.
Water supply
Most of your water should ideally come from rainfall. You’ll probably have to use sprinklers or an underground irrigation system as well, however.
If your water comes from the city it will cost you money to water your lawn, while a well on your property means it will be free.
A lot of municipalities have now instituted curbs or even bans on watering during a drought, so some of us have to let our lawns go brown until the rainy season starts again.
In these cases, we have to accept that the grass can’t be as green as we would like all year round.
However, using a sensible lawn care program will help ensure that the lawn survives a temporary drought.
Sprinklers and irrigation systems
Sprinklers can be moved around, while an irrigation system sits permanently under the turf.
Whichever setup you have, you must ensure that you get adequate coverage by overlapping the spray areas.
You can buy cheap, movable sprinklers, or invest in an automatic system with a computerized timer that you can set to suit your needs.
As long as you use it wisely, an automatic sprinkler system is the most efficient way to get an evenly watered lawn when it’s not raining.
How often should you water?
It’s better to give the grass a good, long drink once or twice a week than to provide a little bit of moisture every day.
In this way, you mimic normal rainfall and allow the grass to grow deep, strong roots that help it survive a dry spell.
If your water little and often, you’ll end up with grass that has shallow roots and is generally weak.
Best time to water the lawn
If you have a system with an automatic timer, program it to run sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
If not, try to water as early in the morning as possible, before the sun gets hot. A lot of people water the garden in the early evening, but you should only do this if you have no other option since it can make the lawn prone to disease.
Don’t be tempted to saturate the lawn during the hottest part of the day to cool it down, as most of the water will simply evaporate.
Don’t waste water – Use drought-resistant grass varieties, which require relatively little watering, as do native species.
- Avoid mowing too low, to preserve moisture in roots and leaves
- Remove thatch regularly to optimize conditions for water penetration
- Whenever possible, apply pesticides and fertilizers before it rains
- Invest in a rain gauge to help you see how much to water.
