Watering Tips

Watering Musts:

1. Make sure your lawn gets at least one inch of water per week, either by rainfall or in combination with irrigation.
2. The best times to water are early morning and early evening when there is generally less wind and heat.
3. Infrequent and deep watering (one inch of water will soak to a depth of 4 to 6 inches) will produce the healthiest lawn.
4. Stop watering if puddles form or runoff occurs. Allow water to soak in before watering is resumed.

Additional Watering Tips:

1. Remember, less is better than more for both a healthy lawn and for water conservation.
2. Always water until the root zone is moist.
3. All grasses should be watered well in the fall. Even dormant grass continues to lose water and can be injured if it gets too dry.

---

Frequently Asked Watering Questions:

• How long should you water at any one time?
• How do you know when your lawn needs watering?

---

How long should you water at any one time?

Water soaks into different soils at different rates. If your soil is sandy, watering for 30 minutes per week should do the trick. Loam and silt loam require about two hours to soak to acceptable depths. Clay requires about five hours of slow watering to soak in. If you don’t know your soil type, try this: place a few empty cans in the area you’re watering. Time how long it takes to fill the cans to a one-inch depth. If puddles form or runoff occurs on the lawn before a one-inch depth is reached in the can, adjust the watering rate.

---

How do you know when your lawn needs watering?

Since most lawns can tolerate dry conditions over a reasonable period of time, water when a probe or screwdriver is difficult to push into the ground, or when you know that the soil is dry at the root zone.