WATERING YOUR LAWN

Watering is going to be a part of your lawn care programme, mainly in the summer and the way in which you water the lawn is important to not only the short term health of your lawn but also the resilience of it. When watering, there are a few things to keep in mind:

When to Water

The appearance of your lawn will be the biggest giveaway as to whether it needs watering or not. If your lawn is losing its green colour and has started to turn to a straw-like colour, this is the biggest sign it needs watering. Ideally, you want to avoid getting to the point where it gets to a straw colour and you will water it as it just starts to lose its strong green colour.

Also, look out for the spring back in your lawn. If you compress the lawn, either with your feet or hands, it should spring back if it is healthy and well watered. 

Buy a Sprinkler

When you water the lawn, you want to water it for substantial periods so a sprinkler is well worth the investment. They can be picked up cheaply, depending on the option you go for and make such a big difference. 

To take a look at the different options, check out the buying guide on sprinklers.

Deep Watering

When we say ‘deep watering’, we are looking for the water to percolate deep into the soil rather than just soak into the very top layer. The roots of your lawn can grow up to a depth of an inch and you are looking to provide water all the way down to this level. If you regularly provide water down to this level in the soil, it shall encourage your root system to grow this deep. 

The benefit of having a deep root system means that during times of drought, the lawn shall be more self-sufficient and draw moisture from the lower soil levels. Whereas if you water regularly and only provide a small amount of water, you encourage the root system to grow horizontally rather than vertically; this will then create a lawn which is not resilient and requires more watering during hot periods.

So when you are watering, you want to provide a lot of water onto the lawn. To ensure you have adequately watered the lawn, keep watering until it is just about to start to puddle, but don’t let puddles form. If the lawn is overwatered you can suffocate the lawn and prevent air reaching the root system. 

Water Infrequently

Don’t water your lawn every day. If you are going to water deeply, you do not need to frequently water, even during hot periods. At the very most, you would be watering every 2 or 3 days, but ultimately this will depend on the weather and the condition of your lawn. 

Time of Day

You don’t want to water the lawn during the heat of the day, as the water will evaporate off and not reach the root system. So, this leaves either the evening, once the sun has set or the morning. 

Watering in the evening will allow you to adequately water your lawn and sufficiently soak it. However, this will mean that your lawn will be wet overnight which can promote disease, moss and fungus to grow. Because of this, the morning is the best time to water your lawn. Depending on the time of year, you will want to have finished watering by around 10am and before the heat of the day starts.

However, this is not always practical so if you do need to water in the evening, then go for it. But just be careful not to water too frequently and keep an eye out for moss and fungus.