A typical lawn needs about an inch of water per week, equating to two 30-minute watering sessions.
Too much or too little water can produce a mediocre appearance with dead or dried patches.
Learn more about how often to water grass to keep yourlawn lush and green.
The Spruce / Steven Merkel
This amount may change, though, depending on your soil throw in.
Proper drainage goes hand-in-hand with meeting the water requirement of a lawn.
It will take your sprinklers about one hour to put out the required one inch of water per week.
Establishing agood irrigation schedulewill help you achieve your lawn’s water requirements.
You may also want to know how often to water your lawn.
You do not need to provide the required one inch per week all at once.
Instead, water for 30 minutes twice a week but avoid too many intervals.
For example, don’t water grass for 20 minutes three different times a week.
Less frequent, longer, and deeper watering encourages roots to reach down for water.
A root system extending far down is less susceptible to heat stress and pest damage.
Tip
Here’s a simple way to measure how much water your grass is getting.
The grass blades will then have all day to dry out before nightfall.
The longer grass blades stay wet, the greater the chance they can succumb to fungal diseases.
Artificial irrigationshould be used only to supplement rainfall.
You will not have to supply the same amount of artificial irrigation year-round.
Other cool season grasses include fine fescue and perennial ryegrass.
Other warm season grasses include zoysia and carpet grass.
Water travels through buried pipes or tubes beneath the soil.
The controller is programmable and can be set to open and end the valves automatically.
Smart Sprinkler Systems
Smart sprinklersare similar to automatic sprinklers, but a smartphone app can control them.
Homeowners can turn sprinkler heads off and on even when they’re out of town.
They can also control how long the sprinklers run.
Look at several problem areas in your lawn to determine if the grass is too wet or dry.
Your grass should receive one inch of water each week in hot weather or a drought.
Divide the utility up into two waterings of 1/2-inch each during the week.
It isn’t a good idea to water grass at night.
Usually, wait a day or two before watering your lawn after it’s fertilized.
However, always read thelawn fertilizer’sinstructions because some types may require watering right after utility.
You should start watering your lawn when the soil temperature is consistently in the 40-60 degrees Fahrenheit range.
This tends to happen in April or May, but of course, it depends on where you live.
Any colder, and the soil may not yet be thawed.
Watering your lawn when the ground is still frozen can be detrimental to grass.
One hour of a running sprinkler produces about one inch of water, depending on the sprinkler.
For many lawns, one inch of water per week is a reliable rule of thumb.
The UC Guide to Healthy Lawns.Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California.
