Thirsty July Lawns - Here's What To Do:

It is officially summer and it’s HOT!? It’s a MUST to give your lawn additional drinks during this time of year. One of the many questions we get asked as a landscaping company is how often should you water your lawn during the summer? What if you’re on a budget or trying to be eco-conscious with how much water you use??

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to watering your lawn. How much water your lawn needs really depends on how much shade the lawn receives, the soil type, as well as the type of grass growing there. Typically, lawns with more shade or clay soil do not require as much water as those in direct sunlight. If your lawn is sandy, you’ll probably need more water to keep it going. Test your soil to know for sure what you’re working with!

Your local landscaping company can help with this!

In general during hot summer months, you should be watering your lawn up to three times per week if there wasn’t any recent rainfall. As a general rule of thumb, watering up to one inch deep each time you water your lawn is ideal. You can use a rain gauge to measure out an inch of water every time you turn on the sprinklers (or grab a can and place it in the yard and measure up to 1inch if you don’t own a rain gauge). Areas in direct sunlight (and especially shrubs and flowers) may require additional water to thrive.

July is National Irrigation Month, and it’s a great time to talk about reducing your outdoor water use. According to the EPA, you could be using up to 60% of your household water on your lawn and landscapes. That’s A LOT!!!!

And yet, 50% of your outdoor water use is going to waste because of overwatering. Your lawn really doesn’t need the amount of water you’re giving it. In the summer, you can use up to 1,000 gallons of water per day on your lawn and landscape. At the extreme end, you and your family could be using up to 3,000 gallons of water per day, which is similar to letting your garden hose run for eight hours straight. YIKES!

If you pay for your water, this is hard on your wallet, and you’ve probably already seen an uptick since summer began. And if you depend on well water, you still need to conserve it to make it through a dry patch.

So, how can you save water and still keep your lawn and gardens looking healthy? Here’s a few quick tips:

1. Make the soil more water-friendly. As stated above, sandy soil won’t hold water. It absorbs water, but sandy soil can’t store it underground. Clay soil, on the other hand, does a great job of storing moisture underground. But it compacts quickly, not allowing roots to grow deeply. You can add soil amendments, such as compost, to loosen up the soil and help its absorption rate.?
2. Water your lawn in the earliest morning hours. You don’t save water when you spray water on your lawn during the hottest part of the day because it’ll evaporate. Depending on where you live, your grass may be more prone to fungal diseases. So, experts recommend you water your lawn in the early morning hours. If you have a sprinkler system, you can set the timer to start between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m.
3. You use less water with organic lawn care. If you go the natural route, your grass will be more drought-tolerant and able to find stores of water deep underground. Organic fertilizers and other amendments also help the turf to grow root hairs that can find hidden moisture.
4. Let your lawn grass grow longer. Set your mower blades at the highest setting to take off only the top third. When you mow higher, your turfgrass develops those deep root systems.
5. Irrigate your lawn less often. Ideally, you can save water if you can wait until you see your shoe print in the grass. Some folks don’t have that level of tolerance, but some lawns also do not require as much watering as they are getting. And remember, over-watering and drowning of the grass roots does happen! You could try a weekly watering consisting of 1”-2” of water. Again, you can set your sprinkler system only to put out the right amount of water at the right time. Plus, if you get an inch or more of rain on a particular week, you don’t have to water your lawn.

Stoney Acres can help you with irrigation installation, lawn care such as mowing, aeration, fertilizing and more. Call us today for a free quote! 570-925-6826