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Recommendations for Effective Lawn Watering

    

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The following practices are recommended to achieve effective lawn watering.

  1. Don't Drown.  The greatest waste of water comes from applying too much, too often- much of the water is never absorbed.  Avoid light, frequent irrigation unless you have just seeded an area. Light frequent irrigation encourages shallow turfgrasses rooting and annual weed invasion. It is best to water deeply and infrequently. Water to the depth of the turf root system, that is, supply enough water in one irrigation to moisten the entire soil profile where roots are growing. Usually, 1 inch of water is adequate to supply this amount. Do not water again until this soil area has dried, and then water the entire soil-root zone again. This entails monitoring soil conditions with a trowel or soil sampling probe. Coarse, sandy soils require more frequent watering than fine-textured clay soils. During hot, dry, windy, and sunny conditions lawns will also require more frequent irrigation, as will exposed, open areas, or turf that is excessively fertilized with nitrogen.
  2. Watch the Clock.  Water between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. when the sun is low, winds are calm and temperatures are cool.  Mid-day watering tends to be less efficient because of water loss due to evaporation and windy conditions during the day.  Watering in the evening isn't a good idea either because leaves can remain wet overnight...an open invitation for fungus to grow.  By watering in the morning, leaves have a chance to dry out during the day.
  3. Divide by Zones.  Different plants need different amounts of water.  Divide your yard and landscape areas into separate irrigation zones so that grass can be watered separately and more frequently than groundcovers, shrubs, and trees.  Both sprinkler and drip irrigation can be incorporated to achieve a more efficient use of water.
  4. Water Only Things That Grow.  If you have an underground sprinkler system, make sure the sprinkler heads are adjusted properly to avoid watering sidewalks and driveways.  A properly adjusted sprinkler head should spray large droplets of water instead of a fine mist to minimize evaporation and wind drift.
  5. Do Routine Inspections.  Since lawns and gardens should be watered in the early morning hours, a problem may not be discovered until it's too late.  Periodically check your sprinklers to make sure everything is working properly.  A clogged head or a torn line can wreak havoc on your landscape and water bill.
  6. Do not begin watering at the first sign of warm weather. Root-system elongation is the initial turfgrass response to drought conditions. Do not delay watering, however, until the lawn has gone dormant. After an initial drought period, begin watering to maintain green color and active growth.
  7. To determine when to water, walk on your lawn to see if your footprints are visible behind you. On lawns in need of water, the grasses will not spring back following trafficking. Where moisture is adequate, grasses will spring back. Another method to determine the need for watering is to watch for grass color changes. Very often, as soils dry, lawns with inadequate moisture develop a dark blue or purple cast. Finally, you can use a soil sampling tool to examine soil for the presence of moisture.
  8. Select a sprinkler based on yard size and shape. Many sprinklers have water distribution patterns that can be adjusted to fit a variety of sizes and shapes. It is not necessary to have an in-ground sprinkler system to have an attractive yard, although an in-ground system can reduce the labor of moving a sprinkler and hose from spot to spot.
  9. Supply a uniform amount of water to the entire lawn. Do not supply excessive water in some spots and inadequate amounts in others. When sprinkling, monitor water distribution by placing coffee cans or some other straight-sided vessels at various points beneath the sprinkler’s pattern. Measure the quantity of water captured in each container and overlap sprinkler patterns to supply the entire lawn with a uniform quantity of water.
  10. Watch newly planted lawns, both seeded and sodded, closely. Young grass plants and newly installed sod have smaller root systems than their fully established counterparts. These plants will usually require frequent irrigation until their root systems have developed and they have become established.
  11. Do not apply water faster than the soil can absorb it. Do not create puddles by over watering. On slopes, apply water slowly enough to be absorbed into the soil and not run off the surface.
  12. Do not follow an irrigation regime that causes your lawn to bounce between active growth and dormancy. Each time your lawn resumes growth after dormancy, stored plant reserves are depleted. A continuous pattern of dormancy followed by active growth can stress turf and may slow its recovery when improved weather conditions return.

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