Watering Your Lawn

Well it got hot and it got hot fast. Remember yesterday when you said "I don't mind the heat, I just need some time to adjust." Was I the only one who said that? I doubt it. Well if you didn't say that your lawn certainly did. This sort of 30 degree temperature swing can wreak havoc on grass and landscapes. Proper watering in heat like this is essential. Let me write the same thing with emphasis added....  

PROPER watering in heat like this is essential.

Before we get into what exactly "proper" watering practices are let’s tackle a few myths:

1. A dry patch in my lawn needs excessive water to green up. This is not true and can cause more damage. If you have a dry patch, too much water can actually cause a fungus and make things worse. You might actually already be looking at a fungus that's called Melt Out and is caused by drought and wild swings in the weather. The best thing you can do for this is water regularly and let it grow out. There might be a possibility that your technician could help accelerate the growth with a little extra fertilizer but they would have to take a look at it to determine if that's the case. Call us 1-800-LAWNCARE or you can email as well.

2. Watering at night is the best time. Again not true. While this practice does prevent less water from evaporating it can create an environment where fungi can fester and different lawn diseases can accelerate.

3. Less frequent, deeper watering is the way to go. While this is not a complete myth there are several factors to take into consideration here. Type of soil, air temperature, geographic location, etc. Check out our FAQ page for more information.

Here's the bottom line during the heat of the summer. It's best to get a half inch of water per day on your turf at either early in the am (before it gets hot, 8 am or earlier) or late evening (after it starts to cool down, between 7 and 8 pm) A good rule of thumb is 20 minutes of water will get you that 1/2 inch your looking for. When in doubt put a tuna can in the middle of the yard and wait until it's about half way full.

Here's a warning about not watering properly in this heat. Our office manager has a sprinkler system and generally doesn't have to give it too much thought. However, she had one station break down and didn't realize it for a about a day and a half. By that time the area of her yard that this particular station covered was already several shades of green different than the rest of the lawn. That's just one example of what this kind of heat can do to turf in less than 36 hours.

There is a lot more information on our website watering www.livingwaterspray.com.