Watering Tips

• When to water The ideal time to water is just before dawn.There is usaually little wind to divert spray, and water pressure is at its maximum. If you have a well you might want to have your watering schedule to be over a 30 min to 1 hour before you take a shower in the morning.
• How long do I need to run my sprinklers? The answer depends on many factors such as sun and shade characteristics, slope, and soil type. A general answer is to run them long enough to put about one-half inch of water each time you run them.  Most spray heads will disribute 1.25 to 1.7 inches of water per hour. Spray heads sould run starting at about 15 to 20 minutes per cycle and then adjusting the run time up or down depending on the wind, weather, soil, sun, etc. Using rotor or lawn type sprinklers, it takes about 3 to 4 times as long to put down the same amount of water. Because of this most rotor sprinklers will take up to 45min to an hour to put down 1/2 inch of water.
• In the summer time grass around sidewalks and driveways start to turn brown. Heat stress is usually first noticed around areas of asphalt, sidewalks, and driveways. The soil heats up as the air temperature heats up and then receives more additional heat radiated from asphalt and concrete. Not only does asphalt and concrete add additional heat they keep radiating heat into the soil even after the air temperature cools down. The only way to cool soil down is to add water. Add water in the heat of the day around 2 to 4 PM. This has the effect of cooling the soil down and helps cool the cement/asphalt down.
• Grass needs to be kept longer in dry summer months. This helps root growth since the roots need to lengthen to support the longer leaf blade. Another advantage of longer grass is that the longer blades provide shade, which in turn helps reduce evaporation, which in turn saves water.
• The temperature and evapotranspiriration (ET) rate dictate the watering schedules.

Outside Air Temperature                     Water Schedule

    60 to 70 degrees                            2 times a week

    70 to 80 degrees                            3 times a week

           80 to 90 degrees                            3 to 4 times a week

          90 degrees and above                    4 to 7 times a week

Landscape Watering Guide

Lawn Watering              Plant Watering

 Soil Moisture Forcast

  Precipitation Outlook 

     Diagnosing Turfgrass Problems