With spring’s temperatures climbing and summer on its heels, watering your landscape is an important issue.
Your goal is for the landscape to receive enough water to keep the soil moist. 1 inch per week is a good measurement for the amount of water needed
Lawns do best when they are soaked once per week and then allowed to dry between waterings. This allows grass roots to breathe. In the heat of summer, applying one inch of water per week, in one application, is good. Watering more often is a waste of water and may harm your lawn grass. Also, try to only water in the evening or early mornings. You do not want to extend the dew period of the turf otherwise you run the risk of encouraging disease in the turf.
Watering is only needed when the soil is dry. Remember: if the soil is moist, there is no need to irrigate.
Take into account recent rainfall when deciding how much to apply.
How to measure the amount of water applied by irrigation:
- Place six identical containers randomly in the area wetted by your sprinkler; plastic cups can be used but weight them down with a heavy washer in the bottom of each.
- Let your sprinkler run for an hour.
- Measure the depth of water that has accumulated in each cup.
- Calculate the average of the depths. This gives you the amount (in inches) that has been applied in an hour.
- Make a mental calculation of how long it will take to apply an inch of water.
NOTE: Heavy clay soil, like ours in Atlanta, absorbs water slowly. If water runs off before it is absorbed, split the irrigation into two sessions an hour apart. On the other hand, sandy soil absorbs water rapidly but dries out quickly. Consider splitting the recommended inch of water per week into two irrigations of one-half inch of water three days apart.