City of Farmington Hills Green Tip of the Month:Try these lawn watering tips to save you money on this summer’s water bills.
When to Water
- About one inch of water per week (including precipitation) is adequate for maintaining a healthy lawn. Use a can or rain gauge to help determine the amount of water applied by the sprinkling system and supplied by rainfall.
- Don’t use a fixed schedule for lawn watering. Apply water only when it is needed. Over watering can promote diseases and affect the health of the lawn.
- A simple test for determining if grass needs water is to walk on the lawn and if you leave foot prints, it may be time to water the lawn.
- A good soaking once or twice a week is better than watering every day. Allowing the soil to dry between watering will allow the roots to grow deeper and help make turf more drought tolerant.
Best Times for Lawn Watering
- Water your lawn between the hours of 11:00 PM and 5:00 AM when temperature and wind speed are the lowest to avoid evaporation losses.
- Avoid watering during midday hours when it is hot and sunny to prevent scalding the turf.
- Avoid watering during rainy or windy weather conditions.
You may also want to consider installing rain sensors on compatible irrigation systems; using rain barrels to water lawns, plants and trees; consider reducing your lawn area needing irrigation; and consider covering your pool when not in use to avoid water loss and the need to “top it off.”
These tips will help make for a healthier lawn and will also help conserve one of earth’s most precious commodities.
