Watering Your Lawn

In order to maintain a healthy lawn, proper and adequate watering is vital. The only time you should water your lawn is when it is necessary. Some people water their lawns immediately after mowing, simply because they've formed the habit of doing so. Their lawn might not need the water, yet they water it, nonetheless. How do you determine if your lawn needs water? With a screwdriver, check the soil about three inches under the surface. If the soil is damp, then it is not necessary to water your lawn. This holds true even if the lawn surface looks dry. When it is time to water your lawn, follow these guidelines to water effectively and efficiently:

• Remove thatch for a more efficient lawn ecosystem. Excess thatch in your lawn will cause excess water runoff. If you have thatch that is more than one-half-inch thick, then you should use a metal rake to de-thatch your lawn.
• Water the soil around the roots of your lawn. Every time you water your lawn, you should aim to moisten the soil to a depth of six inches, since that is where the active root zone is located. Water your lawn for fifteen minutes and then test your lawn twenty-four hours later by digging a small hole to determine how deeply the soil is wet. If the depth is six inches, divide the number 120 by six to arrive at twenty. Therefore, you can determine that it takes twenty minutes of watering to wet the root zone.
• Water at the correct time of day. The best time to water your lawn is early in the morning, or later in the evening. While water during the day is oftentimes more convenient for people, you take the chance of having more water evaporation, especially during hot or humid weather.

The typical lawn should receive about one inch of water each week. If you have frequent rains, then you will need to water less often. Remember that when you do water, don't do it too quickly, as you might experience water runoff. If your soil root zone test outlined above indicates that you should water for twenty minutes at a time, but your lawn experiences water runoff at fifteen minutes, turn off the water when you see water runoff, wait an hour, and then continue watering. How often you water your lawn is never as important as how much water gets to the roots of your lawn.