With over 2″ of rain last weekend and 6″ to 8″ of rain over the past few weeks I thought it might be a good time to review a few guidelines to help you understand proper watering of your lawn.
First off you should use a rain gauge on your property to measure the weekly amounts of rainfall you receive. 
If you received around an inch of rain fall during the course of the week you should forgo watering your lawn for the next seven days.
Check and empty your rain gauge if necessary on the same day each week.
If you don’t receive rain or very little rain during the course of the week then water applying about an inch of water per session.
Watering deep and infrequently has several advantages.
First when you allow the first 3 to 4 inches of soil to dry out it encourages the grass to root deeper seeking moister soil down in the 7 to 12 inch depth level. Likewise if you irrigate frequently every other day or every third day you encourage a short root zone on the grass plant.
A second good reason to water infrequently is to allow the grass to harden off. Hardening off of the grass plant makes it a less desirable host for insects to feed on and less desirable host for fungus.
I have a irrigation system and I rarely if ever run it automatically.
To summarize: Measure rainfall at your location. Water deep and infrequent. Apply about an inch of water in the absence of rainfall.
Bob Kroth
Owner Parkway Lawn Service Inc
Certified Turfgrass Professional
