Watering Your Lawn Automatically
There are many different ways to efficiently and automatically water your lawn. There are a few factors you should take into account. Ask yourself the following questions: How much water will I need? How large an area do I need to cover? What shape is my lawn? Is there anything nearby that cant get wet?
Here are a few popular types of sprinklers to consider:
- In-ground sprinklers These systems can be expensive, but are highly efficient. The sprinkler heads pop up automatically to water, and pop right back down when the watering is done, delivering a precise amount of water.
- Pulsating sprinklers This type shoots out water horizontally in a powerful stream, covering a large area easily. Grassroots get the level of moisture they need quickly. However, the pulsing might be too intense for newly seeded or sodded lawns.
- Oscillating sprinklers These are a good alternative for newly seeded lawns, since the force of the water is weaker, and you still get good coverage.
- Hose-end sprinklers These traditional sprinklers are the most common and come in many different types.
Make sure your automatic sprinkler is doing its job, when it needs to do its job. If the forecast calls for a lot of rain, adjust the settings accordingly. Also, make sure it isnt pointed at the streetyou dont want to soak any passersby.
Dont Know How Much Water Your Lawn Gets
Try setting a tuna or coffee can on the lawn. While youre watering, time how long it takes for your sprinkler/irrigation system to reach one inch of water.
Lawns with shallow soil or rocky soil should be watered for shorter periodstwice per week, if your citys watering schedule allows this. Always remember to water only during these arranged times.
Some additional watering suggestions:
- Do not water from noon to 6 p.m. This is the days hottest period. Water can evaporate and not sink into your lawn.
- If you have thatch, or built-up dead grass in between your living grass, this may keep water from sinking into your lawn. Have a professional rake out thatch so you can water properly.
- Bermuda grass and buffalo grass have very modest watering needs. If your city tightens watering restrictions, these lawns can go up to three weeks without being watered .
- Meanwhile, zoysia grass and St. Augustine grass cant go longer than 2 weeks without suffering damage.
- Remember to adjust your watering level after rain. If you overwater your lawn, you may harm your lawn more than if youd not watered at all.
- Check your irrigation system often for sprinkler heads. These may become damaged or aim toward the sidewalk and street. Either issue can waste water. Fix the problems, or call a professional to fix them for you as soon as possible.
Ensure Your Lawn Is Getting Enough Water
Watering on a regular basis is essential to achieving a thick, healthy lawn. By working together with your lawn care company, youll have the knowledge and tools to properly water your lawn and give it the care it needs.
Our custom blended fertilizers can actually help your lawns root system to retain moisture better over time, by adding bionutritional materials that can help you get the most out of your watering efforts.
If you ever have any questions about the best time to water grass in Ohio or Northern Kentucky, the lawn technicians at Oasis Turf & Tree are always available to help. When we come to your home, were not just there to perform treatments. A healthy lawn is a team effort, and its our goal to continuously educate you on what you can do to achieve success.
At Oasis Turf & Tree, were here to answer any questions you have regarding watering your lawn via our contact page. For more helpful lawn care tips, or .
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Watering When Everyone Else Does
Watering when everyone else does means you wont have the same water pressure as you should when few people are watering around you. Also, wind and water-pressure change with the time of day. Morning is often the windiest time and has the lowest water pressure. More people watering in the high heat months means less water pressure, which is one reason why you will need to supplement with some hand-watering. Also, if not many other people are watering, try watering early in the morning before the sun rises. The water you put down wont evaporate as quickly or as easily if you water when its cool and dark outside.
How Often To Water Your Lawn In Summer
This is a question that comes up frequently, especially as the temperatures start to creep up across the country. Lawn care enthusiasts start to wonder how to adjust their watering schedule to ensure their lawn stays vibrant and green well into the rest of the year.
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to watering your lawn in the summer. How much water your lawn needs really depends on how much shade the lawn receives, the soil type, as well as the type of grass growing there. Typically, lawns with more shade or clay soil do not require as much water as those in direct sunlight. However, you still need to consider the soil! If your lawn is sandy, youll probably need more water to keep it going. Test your soil to know for sure what youre working with!
In general during hot summer months, you should be watering your lawn up to three times per week if there wasnt any recent rainfall. As a general rule of thumb, watering up to one inch deep each time you water your lawn is ideal. You can use a rain gauge to measure out an inch of water every time you turn on the sprinklers . Areas in direct sunlight may require additional water to thrive.
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Buy Or Diy A Rain Gauge
You can purchase one at a gardening store or mark 2.5 cm on a can or cup that you already have. Place the rain gauge within range of your sprinkler system and time how long it takes for the water line to reach 2.5 cm. Once you have this information, you can add a timer to your sprinkler system that will shut it off automatically.
How Much Water Does Your Lawn Really Need
Summer is creeping around the corner, and youre looking forward to adding some new landscaping elements to your yard: a new tree, and maybe some new shrubs and flowers. As you prep to move into the summer season, you find yourself asking, how much water does my lawn actually need? There are a few ways to answer this question, and today we dive into those options.
Lawn Watering in General
The ideal amount of water for a lawn truly depends on a number of factors, so there is no perfect number, but there are some general best practices that everyone can follow. First, its recommended during one week to water your lawn between one and one and a half inches worth of water. This is a cumulative number, so if there are three thunderstorms in one week, your irrigation system problem wont need to contribute.
Its also recommended to water your lawn a few times per week, but not necessarily every single day. A lawn that is watered a few minutes each day will develop shallow roots, which ultimately isnt the healthiest lawn. If you water your lawn a little more infrequently, but with more water, it gives the water the opportunity to reach further into the soil and establish strong, deep roots, the cornerstone of a healthy lawn.
Lawn Watering Specifics
There are a number of characteristics of a lawn that impact the ideal amount of water it should be receiving.
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Types Of Grass Grown In Canada
First, let’s take a quick look at the type of grass on your lawn. Canadian homes typically include a mix of cool-season grasses blended for sunny or shady yards or customized for your lawns specific needs. Here’s what you are likely growing out back:
- Kentucky bluegrass This deep, green grass grows well from seed, making it a popular choice in the north. However, its shallow roots require frequent waterings and well-draining soil.
- Canada bluegrass This northern-grown bluegrass is hardy, low-maintenance, and grows almost anywhere, including rocky soil.
- Ryegrass This is the shiny grass you see in your yard and a top pick for playgrounds and ballparks. Ryegrass is strong enough to sustain dry spells, summer heat, and winter weather, but it’s not happy in extreme temperatures.
- Tall Fescue This type of grass grows in bunches. It has a deep root system that can hang tough in high temperatures and drought. Fescue appreciates a deep watering.
How Much Water Does Your Lawn Need
Lawn care is a year-round process, and its important not to underestimate the importance of water for established lawns.
Lawns need one to two inches of consistent water per week. During certain times of the year, Mother Nature may provide enough rainfall to keep your grass growing. However, its common to have dry spells for several weeks or more in Ohio.
When lawns arent getting enough water, youll often notice the following symptoms:
- The color changes from a vibrant green to a much duller blue-green .
- After walking across your lawn, you can clearly see footprints in the grass that wont stand back up.
Established lawns can withstand a couple weeks without rain or watering, and its normal for grass to enter dormancy as a response. Once the grass starts getting water again, the grass will start growing again and color should return. However, dont be completely surprised if your lawn doesnt bounce back to normal. As you begin to water your lawn, you may notice thin areas or dead spots when moisture has been absent for longer periods of time.
Even though grass can rebound from brief periods of drought, there are long term consequences of insufficient water to a lawn. As grass areas weaken and thin, weeds will quickly fill the gaps. Weeds will grow and proliferate, and take over large areas, simply because grass didnt get water regularly.
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Apply the water as slowly as possible and, whenever practical, use a drip system or soaker hoses. Impact sprinklers apply water much more slowly than oscillating sprinklers.
Water Smarter Not More
There are some other really great lawn treatments available that will allow your lawn to retain more water as well. Do you want to know more? Contact Stewarts< /img class> today to find out more about their 6 Step System with better weed control, better grub control, better fertilization, and better weed prevention.
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What Time Of Day Is Best To Water Your Lawn If You Cant Manage Early Mornings
Although early mornings are the best time, the late afternoon can also work well. Its important to avoid the heat of the day, as the water on the grass will tend to evaporate, rather than soaking into the soil.
We also dont recommend watering in the late evening, as this can set up the damp, cool conditions that are ideal for mildew or mold to form.
Does Sandy Soil Mean I Have To Water More
No, sandy soil does not require more water than loamy or clay soils. Thats a myth. Grass requires the same amount of water to thrive no matter what soil it grows in. But since sandy soil holds less water in reserve than loam, you need to water with smaller amounts more frequently.
So, if your loam-having neighbors water four-inches deep every eight days, you need to water one inch every two or three days.
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Let Sleeping Lawns Lie
If you havent been watering your lawn, chances are the grass has already turned brown. Once that happens, the lawn has gone dormant and its not a good idea to try to green it up again. It would take at least two weeks of watering every night to bring it back to active growth and start the greening process.
Normally, it wont do any harm to let your grass remain dormant until fall by waiting to water and fertilize until the grass begins greening back up in mid-to-late September. This year could be an exception, however. If it remains as unusually hot and dry as some forecasters are predicting, the grass could literally die of thirst. If we dont get any significant rain this summer, water your lawn at least once per month during July and August. You dont want to water so much that you bring the grass out of dormancy. Instead, water only once per month and apply about 1 inch of water each time. That wont be enough to cause the grass to break dormancy, but will provide enough moisture to keep your lawn alive.
Watering once a month is also advisable if you have trees growing in a lawn that was allowed to go dormant. Trees remain actively growing in the heat of summer and can be harmed if the soil is allowed to become bone dry. Usually watering once per month is enough to provide adequate moisture to keep the trees healthy and better prepared to withstand winter conditions.
Dont Overseed Your Lawn In Summer
While you might think its a good idea to help a patchy lawn grow fuller by overseeding, dont do it now. When new grass blades start growing, they have tiny root systems. Temperature spikes and even brief periods of insufficient water will quickly kill these little sprouts.
Wait until falls cooler weather to overseed your lawn so new grass blades have time to establish themselves. That way, youll see a thicker, greener lawn next spring.
> > Ask us about getting on the schedule for our Lawn Overseeding Program
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How Frequently To Water Your Lawn With A Sprinkler System
The first step in determining how much to water your lawn in the summer is to identify what species of grass you have. For example, tall Fescue requires 1 1-5of water per week. In contrast, Kentucky Bluegrass requires up to 2 of water per week to avoid going dormant. These amounts can increase during hot dry months during the summer. Calibration of your irrigation system by a professional or yourself in the spring will ensure a uniform amount of water is put down with each watering.
Deep, infrequent waterings through the week will encourage extensive root growth. For example, try watering each zone for twenty minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday starting at 6 am.
That Is The Standard: Deep And Infrequent Watering
Most of you have probably heard that one before. No matter what your grass type, in summer, get down ½ of water about every 3rd day.I water for 20 minutes 3x per weekSo then why is it that when people tell me about their watering schedule they often say I put my sprinklers out for 20 minutes every 3rd day, or I water 3x per week for about 20 minutes?Do you see whats wrong with that phrasing? If not, let me illustrate, literally, with two of my original and crafty drawerrrings.
Now I dont know if it is still like this, but back then, folks who lived in the Chicago city limits got free water. It was the best water too, straight from Lake Michigan. And I cant tell you how many of my customers in those days would leave that sprinkler out in their front lawn literally all day, everyday. If you are from the southside of Chicago, I know you have seen this.Same thinking here though how much water is actually being put out from that single, oscillating sprinkler in 20 minutes if not all day?
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Why You Shouldnt Water After Sundown
All plants, including turfgrass, photosynthesize when the sun is out. Daylight hours are when they take up water through their roots and expel it from the tiny pores, or stomata, on their leaf surfaces.
When the sun goes down, plants stop photosynthesizing, these pores close, and much of your irrigation water will drain away through the soil instead of being used by your turfgrasses roots.
Watering Different Types Of Lawns
During the first year of your lawns growth, whether it’s a newly seeded, sodded, sprigged, or plugged lawn, don’t rely solely on Mother Nature to do the watering. Additional irrigation should always be provided.
When watering a newly seeded lawn, the key is to keep the top inch of soil consistently moist but not soggy. You will likely need to mist the seeded area once or twice a day . Once the seeds start to germinate, continue to keep the top 2 inches of soil moist until the new grass reaches a mowing height of around 3 inches. After that, begin to cut back watering to twice per week and soak the soil deeper, about 6 to 8 inches, to encourage the grass roots to grow down deep into the soil.
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