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One of the worst things you can do for your turf is to over-water, which discourages the development a deep root system. Think back to spring and summer of 2010…a cold wet spring…leading to a shallow and weak root system. Then we had a warm, wet summer…yet many of you continued to water the lawn…extending the period of poor root growth. Then the extended heat into mid-August, with hot nights…nighttime lows in the 80’s. That’s when most turf just went “belly up.” Last year was a “perfect storm” for our turfgrass. There’s nothing we could have done about the cold wet spring, or the hot August, or the regular heavy rainfalls through the summer. The only thing in our control is how we manage our supplemental irrigation.
When we go through periods of abundant natural rainfalls, you’ve got to exercise a modicum of common sense and turn your irrigation system off! Let the roots do their job! Last summer the wet spring was followed by a wet summer with numerous soaking rainfalls, which provided enough soil moisture to last the turf for 4 to 5 days. Still, many of you folks let the irrigation system run the very next day. WRONG! You have to encourage your turf to develop deep roots--work with Mother Nature. The “tough turf” year of 2010 serves as a reminder to all of you “irrigators” that a shallow root system will dramatically increase the likelihood of dead turf in August.
If you really aspire for great turf, take a few minutes and walk your property in the evening. If the surface is moist to the touch then turn the irrigation clock to “off.” Remember, turf ain’t moss.
We’ve had a lot of questions about watering, such as “Must I water?”, “When should I water?” and “How much should I water?” Here are our opinions and experience on this subject.
No, you don’t need to water your turf, because it can survive without additional irrigation…well, maybe 9 years out of 10. But, if you aspire for fabulous turf, you should (must) irrigate. If Mother Nature decides to ignore us, your turf will go dormant on its own, and commence growth again in the fall, when the temperatures cool down and fall rains return. However, most of us “burbanites” want a green sward, and/or we can’t tolerate the peer pressure of high neighborhood standards, so we irrigate. Once you start providing supplement irrigation during in late spring to early summer, you really can’t stop. So, if the quarterly water bill comes in too high for your budget, an abrupt cessation of your irrigation can actually kill your turf. If you’re managing your household budget very tightly, perhaps you shouldn’t irrigate the sward…it’s OK…not irrigating at all is probably better than stopping abruptly in July or August.
Hands down, the best time of day to water is in the early morning. For those of us with an irrigation system, program the clock to start at 4:00 to 5:00 A.M. In general, water every second to every third morning. It’s hard to tell you how much to apply, but try to water sufficiently long to get the top inch or two of soil moist. Remember, gravity sucks. That means the moisture in the surface soil will work its way deeper into the soil profile. Let the soil surface dry between your water cycles (remember the comment to walk your property in the evening). The most accurate advice we can give you requires you to make a decision most evenings at dusk…if the soil surface is damp, don’t water the next day. All you have to do is turn the timer clock to the “off position”. Some dopes forget the turn the clock back on!
Watering in the late evening will typically make diseases worse because the turf stays wet through the night. Fungal diseases require a film of water on leaf surfaces to grow and spread. Watering late in the day (typically after 5 PM) does exactly this. Those fun-guys (get it?) will party at your expense!
There may be times when you have to water in the middle of the afternoon or the evening, when your turf is under severe water stress. Should this be the case, water it, no matter what time of day! How can you tell your turf is under stress? It takes on a bluish tint, because of the way the leaves roll up. Also, it’s really easy to see your own footprints in a droughty lawn. Just don’t make a practice of watering after 4 PM.
If you don’t have an irrigation system, get yourself a nice digital timer, plus a half-dozen new hose washers. You are wondering, “Hose washers?” Admit it. If you’re going to use a digital timer you’ve got to leave your faucet in the “on” position. If your washers are old, your hoses will be leaking water through the bad couplings all night long. Set the hose and sprinkler up in the evening, and program the timer to come on at 4:00 AM and off at 5:00 AM. After your morning coffee, reset the sprinkler position and the timer, and get another “zone” watered while you’re at work. You can rotate a good sprinkler through a typical yard several times in a week with this method. And you no longer have to whine about not having the $4K for a decent irrigation system!
Watering very lightly at daybreak can actually minimize disease pressure, because spores that gain entry into the leaf tissues are knocked down off of the leaf surface into the thatch, thus slowing the spread of the diseases. Plus, “water of guttation”, that drop of sugary water that is exuded out the cut surface of the leaf tip, sitting atop the leaf blade, is a literal nutrient broth for disease spores. This is an early morning phenomenon, and thus, a very brief irrigation will “wash” the sugar solution away. In the dog days of summer, program each zone to come on for 2 to 3 minutes in the morning, starting at 4:00 AM, just to wash the guttation away.
That’s a good question. The answer? It depends. To support a fall or spring re-seeding effort you need to make frequent, shallow irrigations, when the turf is developing. A seedling has a poorly developed root system and hence, benefits from frequent irrigation. As it grows and develops start watering more deeply and less frequently. It’s so damned annoying when we hear or read garden columnists and so-called experts tell us…”water deeply so that your soil is moist at a depth of 6 inches.” Who are they kidding? The tight clay soils of St. Louis would be pure slop on the surface if we could do that. Plus, our clay soils have a percolation rate (the rate at which they’ll take water) of a meager 1/16th inch per hour. Do the math. In actuality, light, frequent watering is the only real way to water a typical St. Louis lawn, because of tight, clayey soils.
Most everyone, including the garden columnists and radio talk show hosts, agree that turf requires a minimum of an inch of water per week. If it’s hot and dry and we don’t get rain, you have to supply that inch. If we catch a half-inch rain, you only have to supply the missing half-inch. We think this rule is a good guideline but you’ll have to customize it to your specific situation. For example, one zone in Jeff’s back yard is a west-facing slope, which gets blistered by hot afternoon sun. That zone gets watered daily. With an inch of water per week your lawn may not look like the fairways at Bellerieve Country Club, but it’ll be very healthy and green. Most fabulous lawns are watered at least every other day during hot and dry weather.
Don’t just assume each zone needs the same “time” or amount. It’s very common for your irrigation company to simply program every zone for 15 to 20 minutes of water, every other day. When you have an irrigation system installed, that’s what the company typically sets up for you…their “default setting”. Depending upon the exposure to sun or shade, sloped vs. flat ground, etc., those zones may not necessarily need 20 minutes of water. The shady side of the house will be sloppy wet, compared to the zones in full sun. Walk each zone immediately after it turns off. If you have water draining away from that zone, you’re wasting it. Either reduce the duration of that zone, or reduce the actual nozzle size in the sprinkler head. If the turf still looks stressed in the heat of the day, or you can see definite footprints, increase the time on that zone.
The sprinkler head has different-sized nozzles, and they aren’t hard to change. Ask your irrigation company for a few extra spray tips. It may take you a month or two to “fine tune” each zone on your irrigation system, but it’s important fine that “sweet spot” for each zone in your system. Many of you don’t realize how easy this is to do. In each of those heads is a small, plastic orifice, which controls how much water shoots through the head. If this stuff is new to you, have your irrigation contractor come out and explain it to you, and get an assortment of tips from them. They should have showed you how to adjust the spray pattern and set the clock, etc. If they didn’t, call a different company.
How can you invest a couple of grand into an irrigation system and not get a rainfall over-ride switch? Come on folks. Nothing looks as stupid to everyone else in the neighborhood as having your irrigation system running during in the middle of a thunderstorm or soaking rain. There are various designs available, and they cost $150 to $250. They are worth it.
It’s hard to communicate all the tricks of the trade over what would appear to be an easy turf topic (watering). It’s not rocket science, but a beautiful turf sward in August darn near requires as much schooling.
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