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Ask The Yard Doctor

Deep lawn watering

20 years ago

Hi Trey,

Thanks for helping out here. I'd like to try an infrequent, deep watering schedule to promote root growth and inhibit weeds, and have a few questions. I'm in the metro Boston area, zone 6. I mow high (3-3 1/2 inches), and use an all-organic lawn care program, with automatic sprinklers. The lawn has a mixture of sun and shade. Here are my questions:

1. Is 1" of water, once a week the correct amount?

2. Whatever the correct amount, is it better to put it all down at once, or in two consecutive doses? My thought is that two consecutive doses might help minimize runoff and make more effective and efficient use of the water.

What I was thinking about is running a program to put down 1/2 of the total water needed across all four zones in our yard, but running it twice consecutively (so that when zone 4 is done, zone 1 starts again, and so on).

Is this a good idea, or is it better to just put it all down at once, in a single dose?

The watering time would most likely be early in the morning, roughly 5-7am

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Comments (2)

Billl
20 years ago
Since you didn't get a Yard Doc response....

1" per week is the rule of thumb, but a lot can influence that. If your soil is very sandy or it is very hot and windy, you might need to water more for best results. If you have more clay or it isn't quite as warm, you may only need to water every 2 weeks - or less. Let the grass determine a watering schedule if you have any doubt. If it is showing signs of stress, apply 1" of water. Wait for it to show the first signs of stress again. To do this plan, you have to pay attention to the lawn at first. Don't forget about it and let it get crunchy.

2. IF you are getting runoff, than plan 2 is superior. If your soil can absorb 1" all at once, then both plans are virtually identical to the lawn.
yarddoctor
20 years ago
Dear skidiver,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. Sorry I did not get to your question earlier. It does look like Bill has done an excellent job of providing a very accurate response. Also, everything you were surmising was right on the mark from my view point as you were hitting all the watering principles we start with here at Briggs and Stratton and my institution. The biggest thing is being willing to adjust to Mother Nature. More rain, less rain, hot temperatures, all these can change your schedule. An automatic switch is only good for the next morning in my world. Every day brings a re-evaluation.

Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more. Keep up the good turf work.

Respectfully

Trey Rogers
The Yard Doctor
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What is interesting about that link is that it contradicts virtually any other source on irrigating turfgrass, including publications from many University extension services, lawn care companies and even Tru Green, who I would not recommend for any other turf care suggestions - but at least they got that part right. If one looks hard enough, they can always find something that will justify their own private methodology, but the consensus from the majority of horticulturists and turfcare specialists is that deep but infrequent waterings are far more beneficial to the long term health of an established lawn than are short frequent periods. And it has little do with soil types. Here's just a sampling of a few of the many sources that support this thesis: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG2364.html http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/lawnchallenge/lesson4.html http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/plants/BG530.html http://www.american-lawns.com/lawns/watering.html http://lawn-care.trugreen.com/cgi bin/trucare.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=91
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