Providing proper lawn care for your Tallahassee yard doesn’t end with fertilizing, mowing and edging. In fact, in our previous article Did you fertilize your Tallahassee lawn too soon? we touched on the importance of irrigating your yard when you find fertilizer burn patches.
However, in this article, there is more to discover about watering your lawn than merely turning on a hose for a few minutes. Below we’ve provided the answers to the top three irrigation lawn care questions Dickerson Landscaping, and Lawn Care get asked.
How often should I water my lawn?
Living in Tallahassee and Leon County, we experience extreme droughts and extreme rains throughout the year. Those seasonal conditions do take a toll on most of our lawns and are very difficult to maintain our yard’s health, vigor, and appearance.
As a general rule of thumb for our region, it’s best to provide supplemental watering once a week as part of your irrigation lawn care routine. For example; Sunday was the last day it rained. Six days later there’s still no rain; then it’s time to water your lawn. (Do note: During the hurricane season this rule may not apply)
How much water does my lawn need?
When your lawn is healthy, then depending the grass type its root system typically goes down into the soil about 5 – 8 inches. Based on that, when irrigating your yard, you won’t need more than an inch of water on the surface. What your turf is needing is for the soil to be moist from the surface down to the 5 – 8-inch depth, but no further.
However, during our drought times, a robust root system will consume the grass’s water supply faster than expected and may deplete it in three days or less. As you monitor your lawn during these dry spells, remember when spraying your yard, do not water faster than your lawn’s soil can absorb the moisture it’s receiving.
What time of day is best to water my lawn?
Depending on who you ask, you’ll get different answers from three schools of thought regarding the best time of day to spray a lawn.
Early Morning
Late Afternoon
Evening Hours
We have found that late afternoon watering does have several disadvantages. The heat from the sun and wind strengths increase during the afternoon hours. The needed moisture for the yard evaporates faster due to these conditions. Not to mention, both heat and wind do stress the grass, and it shows in its appearance.
In the evening time, your lawn is coming to the end of its daily cycle. As it goes into its rest mode, it usually becomes damp or wet from the dew. So, adding more water to the surface, which is already moist is not needed.
For us, we believe and have repeatedly seen healthy lawn growth when irrigation gets restricted to early morning, but only if the lawn needed watering.
Here’s how to become your yard’s irrigation lawn care specialist
As a Leon County and Tallahassee homeowner there are only six things you can do to become your yard’s irrigation lawn care specialist.
Find out what type of grass got planted in your yard
Have a soil sample tested to know the make-up of your sod
Monitor your lawn’s morning and evening patterns daily
Study and note which areas of your turf dry out faster
What are the different signals your lawn is showing you
Review past weather and season patterns for our area
As you get to know more about your lawn and the different seasons you will experience together, what you discover along the way, will increase your lawn care commitment to an adequately irrigated yard you’ll be proud of for years.
Did you find our irrigation lawn care article helpful? If so, read Did you fertilize your Tallahassee lawn too soon?