Lawn Watering

[Spencer]

I would like to get everyone's input on watering a lawn. I have underground sprinkling and before I program the timer this year I thought I would get some advice here. I live out in the woods and the north part of my lawn seems to get baked by the sun and the whole south edge (along the woods) doesn't get enough sun and I have a lot of moss there. I just dethatched, raked, aerated, put down lime and weed and feed.

I have heard:
Don't water for too short of a time - this will promote short root growth.

Don't water every day

Don't water at night

 

[frank_f15]

i am not an expert on theis subjest as i only water when i have some new grass to get going, such as when i had new septic system installed and some filling in of low spots. what i did was water when i could, and soaked an area , then the next day soaked another area. my theory is water anytime u can, it is better than no water. i just try to keep it growing, have to much to be particular.

 

[Bird]

Spence, I think the things you've heard are right. I know a lot of our members know more about this topic than I, so they're free to disagree, but here's what I believe from reading, talking to others, and my own experience.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Don't water for too short of a time - this will promote short root growth. )</font>

Yep, if all the moisture is near the surface, that's where the roots will be, too.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Don't water every day )</font>

Yep, that would either mean watering too short a time, as mentioned above, or applying too much water, in either of which case, not good for the grass.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Don't water at night )</font>

Yep, if you're talking about early at night because in many parts of the country, it won't dry fast enough and you can get a mold on the grass. Of course, this does not apply if you're talking about early morning, just before the sun comes up.

I think with a properly established lawn and the proper soil nutrition, you would like the equivalent of one inch of rain per week. So you can figure out how much your sprinklers put out and then I'd water either once or twice a week.

When we lived out in the country, I just maintained a pretty rough "yard", not a real lawn, but when we were in town, I maintained a manicured lawn so the neighbors came to me to ask how to do that, and I only watered once a week for approximately 4 hours in each area. And I fertilized the lawn twice a year; once about the first of March, just after the first mowing, and once about the first of September. Of course, this was in north central Texas and may not apply in your area. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[chrisjbell]

Bird is absolutely right. You don't want to do "shallow" watering - your grass won't be healthy unless it develops a deep root system. 1" per week is a good rule of thumb.

Where I live, it is easy to regulate - we get absolutely zero rain over the summer, but I've got irrigation water. So I generally water once a week for an hour in the morning, then another hour around noon (this is not the best way to conserve water, but is good for the grass). This ensures a nice, deep soaking.

When it gets really hot I will water two times a week. I make the decision based on the "state of the grass". If you walk on it and it doesn't spring back up in a few minutes it is too dry. So if you get rain, you'll have to factor that into the equation.

Oh, and don't forget that mowing habits are almost as important to lawn health as watering.

My grandma would be proud - she was a lawn freak and passed it down to me /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif.

 

[hazmat]

Spencer,

You heard right. A couple things to add

1. Don't water now, wait untill the grass needs it ie, it when you walk on it & it doesn't spring back up. The grass only needs 1" of water a week. Mother nature usually has you covered untill July/August.

2. Don't water faster than the soil can absorb it. This may mean you need to cycle your zones on the irrigation system. See the cornell link on how to measure your lawns infultration rate.

Do you have different zones for the north/south sides of your lawn?

Lawn Talk: Watering

Cornell Watering

 

[Spencer]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Spencer,

You heard right. A couple things to add

1. Don't water now, wait untill the grass needs it ie, it when you walk on it & it doesn't spring back up. The grass only needs 1" of water a week. Mother nature usually has you covered untill July/August.)</font>

Hazmat, I did the core aerating, put down week and feed, put down lime for the moss, and put down insect control. I now want to break down the soil that the core aerator pulled up. I also want to get those chemicals worked into the lawn as soon as possible so my two and a half year old can play on the lawn again.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Do you have different zones for the north/south sides of your lawn? )</font>

Yes I do and I have tried having drastically different watering durations for those zones but that did not seem to help. I think I was watering too often and for too short a time. The lawn looked good when we bought the house other than the moss so I initially just kept the sprinkling system setting the way the previous owner had them. We moved in around July/August of 2001 so there wasn't a whole lot of summer left and the fall is generally the easiest time for lawns around here. I was here for the whole 2002 summer and thats when the lawn really started to go downhill. I did do a weed and feed in the spring last year but that was about it other than insect control. I am now wondering if the previous owner had the lawn too dependent on chemicals and my one application of weed and feed did not satisfy it.

I think I will start out setting the sprinklers to go on for 1 hour in each zone on just Mondays and Fridays. I also think I will adjust the deck on the mower up from setting number 3 to setting number 4. This will keep the grass taller than I like but it should make it stronger.

 

[hazmat]

Spencer,

I Forgot about watering in the weed & feed. What I meant was don't start your regular watering program now.

A semi scientific method of measuring how much water you are putting out with the irrigation is to put a frisbee upside down on the lawn. The frisbee will hold about an inch. Measure it to be sure... ( I can see you now in the toy store with your tape measure /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif) This will tell you how much water your hour cycle puts out.

Taller grass is better /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Just got my soil tests back, wife flipped out when I told her how much lime we needed to buy! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif 3,000# now, another 1,500 in the fall.

 

[froggy]

Bird,

Move to Dallas and the City will tell you, when and how long you can water beginning June 1st! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

froggy

 

[Bird]

Doyle, I was in Dallas at the time I was talking about, but I've been gone now a little over 14 years, so it's changing. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[froggy]

Bird,

That's why I plan to retire in Glen Rose and I can't wait!

Doyle

 

[Bird]

Doyle, I think Glen Rose would be a good place to live; I like that country around there myself.

 

[BigDave]

Spencer,

Youre getting good advice about watering, but also consider what type of grass you have in these different areas. If you have the right type of grass in each of these areas you may be able cut back on your watering, and still have nice green grass covering your whole lawn. Try visiting Seedland, they have plenty of information on grasses.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I am interested in this subject also. I live east of Dallas in Rockwall and I have a 25000-30000 sq. ft. yard with a sprinkler system. I have 144 sprinkler heads on 12 different "stations". It scares me that someone above said they water each area 4 HOURS and another 1 HOUR per week. If I did that there is no way I could afford my water bill. Don't get me wrong, you may need to water that long but, ****, I water about 25-30 minutes in each station once a week and I can EASILY use over 30,000 gallons of water a month.

 

[chrisjbell]

<font color="blue"> I can EASILY use over 30,000 gallons of water a month. </font>

No doubt of that! I water a fair amount of my property - the lawn is probably only about 8000 sq. ft. but I also try to keep the pastures green (about 4 acres). I'm in fire country. Where I live some of us lucky folks can buy irrigation water that comes down from reservoirs through the old gold mining canals. I buy the equivilant of about 30,000 gallons per day (the actual amount is measured in "miners inches") and I'm often wishing I had more.

I couldn't imagine paying metered rates to try and irrigate. For some folks that move out here they discover that (for whatever reason) they can't get the irrigation water. It would be horrible to buy a bunch of property and then not be able to irrigate. Wells are pretty hard to sink, here, so that is often not an option.

But here in the very dry West you do have to water that much or the darn stuff dies. Normally we don't get any rain at all from about now through October - but as I type it is raining like crazy and is supposed to continue for the next two days. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Like the guys said the spring back of the grass, and one inch of water unless its running off tuna can works good also. Don't know if you've heard of him but Jerry Baker has some good books on lawn and gardens with things to use before real cemicals. Hes printed some interesting stuff, anyway try http://www.jerrybaker.com

cheers
Tony