The Best Tips For Watering Your Lawn
Watering your lawn is the most important care practices that you must embrace to maintain and make your lawn beautiful and grow bigger. Little water can make your lush green lawn to dry up and make your efforts to not materialize. You may prepare your lawn well, aerate it, apply fertilizer but if you fail in watering it, then the grass will not be surviving the long absence of water.
Keep in mind that water helps in the transportation of nutrients from the plant. Nutrients including the fertilizer you apply are contained in the soil and need water to be transported to the leaves, stems and other parts of the crop. When there is no water, the nutrients are not transported and since they are essential to the grass, the grass completely dies out.
When you apply too much water, the soil is always wet and this reduces oxygen supply which makes the leaves turn pale thus affecting your grass. It is therefore of utmost importance to know how to water your plants in the right way.
When to water
The best time to water your grass is in the morning. Hot midday weather causes the most hydration to grass and if it is well watered, this can be avoided because evaporation is kept at a minimum.
If your work schedule does not allow you to water in the morning, then late evening is a better time. While the grass will sip the water through the night, you should be careful not to water the grass too much because the water may make the grass prone to disease. Wet grass provides fungi the perfect opportunity to grow.
How much water
It is recommended that the water should go down in the ground for up to about 6 inches. However, we recommend that you first understand the qualities of your soil type. In some soils, water streams down faster than others. For instance, there are soils where if you only pour an inch of water, it goes down to about the recommended 6 inches within no time.
To determine the level of water that has gone down, you can take a sharp object from the garage like a screwdriver and shove it into the lawn. If you have difficulty in getting it down to about 6 inches because the soil is hard, then you will know that your grass is not receiving enough water and you have to increase the water you apply.
By using a sprinkler to water you have a good opportunity to know the flow-rate and how much water is being put on the ground.
How often to water
Several factors will determine how often you water your grass. One of them is the type of soil you have. Well-drained soils require watering about only once a week and loose soils require watering about 3 times a week. Watering should be at an optimal amount because watering the deeper it gets the better for the root development.
Keep in mind that you also want to help your grass grow strongly without depending on water too much and that is why your watering days should be spaced so that the grass adapts to conditions without water.
Sprinkler to use
Using a sprinkler is the best method for watering your grass. You can get a sprinkler that is enough for your size of the lawn. Once you connect it, you will just put a timer to make sure that the watering goes on for the period you want it to run. Also, the sprinkler allows you to do other house chores are your grass is receiving water.
Pulsating versus oscillating sprinklers
Pulsating irrigators are better than the ones for small lawns like gardens while those that oscillator is better for big lawns such as football pitches.
Grass-type
If you have just planted new grass, be careful with how you water it. New grass takes a while before it sticks to the ground properly. You should only water it for only 15 minutes a day for the first 3 days and then increase the intervals of watering. When the grass sticks completely in the soil, you won’t have to monitor the watering as much as you do when the grass is freshly planted.
Conclusion
You may have an unexpected absence from home due to a holiday or work commitments. This will break your watering pattern. If you find yourself in this situation, the grass will go dormant just like it does during winter and it will not be affected so long as there is no drought at the time. When you return, you should let it stay in that state if you know that your stay is temporary since a sudden watering regime and then a sudden stop will be too much for the grass to handle.
