Watering Tips for August

Now that we have had some continuous dry weather, it's time to think about how to  keep things green with some watering tips.

Keeping the ground moist is important to avoid getting dry spots in the lawns.
Some 'experts' say 15minutes a day is sufficient.
There are some contributing factors to consider before agreeing with that opinion:

1. What type of sprinklers do you have? a 1/2 gal per hour sprinkler or a 10 gal per minute sprinkler?
2. Are the nozzles distributing equally?
3. Is there a high spot ?
4. Is 1/2 of the flat and the other 1/2 on a slope?
5. How much slope does the lawn have?

  There is no magic number. 15 minutes will not cut it unless you are on a very large water volume system.

Here are a few thoughts:

 1.  Clay:  when it gets dry is very hard to get wet again. Do not let it dry out!
Watering more often with smaller amounts of water is the best method, especially on a slope. When the soil starts to crack, you're too late.

2.   If  your system seems to be keeping the lawn nice during the warm sunny days, and we experience a 105 F day, hit the manual start one extra time in the middle of the day and let it go through the cycle.  You will get more evaporation, but your lawn shouldn't dry out or be stressed.

3.  The best time to have your watering system come on is in the early morning, timed in such a way as to finish the complete cycle just before the 1st person needs to take a shower. Early AM lets the water sink into the soil profile. Late PM does the same but there is a greater potential of getting fungal diseases.