Watering Tips
To maintain a healthy, green lawn throughout the growing season, irrigation is sometimes necessary. The average lawn needs one inch of rain or irrigated water per week. If watering your lawn is necessary, one deep soaking is much better than several sprinkles. Watering your lawn is best done in the morning. Watering in the afternoon or evening promotes certain diseases. If a timer is used, watering can be started as early as 4:00 in the morning. This allows the water to soak into the soil, decreasing the amount of water lost to evaporation in the heat of the day.
Remember, one inch of water per week is for average lawns. If a lawn is on a slope or is in a hot, windy area, more water must be applied and applied more slowly to keep the lawn healthy and green. Lawns on sandy, well-drained soils require at least 1 1/2inches of water each week. Sandy, well-drained lawns may need to be watered twice each week in the hottest part of the summer. Just split 1 1/2 inches between the two applications.
An additional tip is to measure the amount of water you’re putting on the lawn. Take several empty tuna or cat food cans and set them in the area to be sprinkled. Leave the sprinkler on and keep track of how much time is required for the cans to contain one inch of water. This is the amount of time your sprinkler will need to run to ensure that your lawn is sufficiently watered for one week. Information provided by Bachman’s, Inc.
Easy Watering
It may not seem like a big deal, but using a simple device such as an automatic shut-off watering timer can make the watering process a whole lot easier. The timer attaches to your faucet on the outside of your house; your garden hose attaches to the timer. When you’re ready to water, simply place your sprinkler out in your yard, turn the water on, and adjust the timer to the desired amount of time you want to water. Then just walk away; the water will shut off by itself. Parkway Lawn Service has some of these timers available now. Give our office a call if you’d like to purchase one for a nominal fee.
