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Lawn Watering Needs

Water Enough Grass does its best with about an inch of water a week. When applied with a hose and sprinkler or an irrigation system it is best to be very thorough in order for the water to reach down to the roots. Otherwise a small amount of water applied infrequently to the lawn will cause the roots to grow upward to reach it. There is no such as proper duration for watering. Only a required amount of water.

If With a Hose/Sprinkler Water pressure, hose diameter and sprinkler design all effect the amount of water exiting the system. Place an empty can in the area being sprinkled. When its an inch full, you've watered enough. If the process took an hour, use that as your guide next time.

If With An Irrigation System With an inground sprinkler system, a lawn can do very well with small amounts of water because the water can be applied very frequently. True, the grass roots will be closer to the top of the soil than with the above example, but the watering can be sufficiently frequent that it doesn't matter.

But. . . Don't Over Water

I have seen sprinkler systems being activated 3 times a day and 5 to 7 inches of water a week being put on the lawn. It isn't necessary - and it can be harmful. Anything more than an inch or so will not be used by the grass and such excess watering will only leach good nutrients out of the soil and make it somewhat barren. I can fix the problem with constant fertilization and lime, but why pay Island Lawn & Garden to constantly fix a problem that is unnecessary in the first place? A good inch, even two, is okay each week. Don't over do it. Exception - You've just returned home from your Vineyard vacation to find your lawn is as brown as toast and the ground like concrete from baking at 95 degrees for too many days with no water. You've experienced this before and know it will eventually recover, but do you want the recovery to be within 4 days? Answer - Give it water for 16 hours straight. Most will run off but enough will seep into and soften the soil. Two days later water again for 8 hours. By day 4 it should be almost back to normal.

Time of Day to Water It's a myth that one shouldn't water during the middle of the day. Sure, evaporation will be a little more than early or late, but if one compensates by watering a little longer, the amount available to the plant's roots will be same. In fact watering very late in the day will create a damper condition for longer and moss, mushrooms and those weed seeds that are always present on the surface of the soil just love that dampness. My answer is to water when it is convenient for you to do so.

Type of Sprinkler? It doesn't make any difference. I use this type of impulse sprinkler on my own property because I can easily adjust it to fit some unique contours of lawn area. But an oscillating type would probably work just as well. And for small areas, a rotary or cone type sprinkler would be fine.