Undoubtedly one of the most important factors in maintaining quality lawns is the correct management and scheduling of watering. Every lawn is different and it is important that the homeowner understands it’s individual water requirements as variables occur mainly due to climatic conditions, soil & grass types. This is important as the restriction of water usage will save you time and money.
The important factors in putting together a successful watering program for your lawn is as follows;
- Targeting a deep root system, while watering for lawn health and not for colour. This means; ensuring each application of water is deep & infrequent – don’t water your lawn every day, but more like 1-2 times per week. Grass roots chase water, watering deep and infrequently helps the roots to grow deep.
- Water early morning to reduce evaporation of water through the middle of the day.
- Avoiding overwatering to avoid water wastage as it causes disease & insect issues
- Ensuring you are watering your lawn as evenly as possible
- Avoid hydrophobic soil conditions (avoiding soil drying to the point where it’s difficult to rewet) as this takes a lot of extra water to rewet your soil to a reasonable depth
- Ensure you have a clear understand for your watering system (regardless of if its automatic or manual) and know how much water it applies over a given period of time
