How lucky we are to be living in a place with such an abundance of lakes, rivers, streams, and natural precipitation. This wealth of water resources would almost lead some to think we don’t need to pay attention to how and when we water our lawns. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
When watering your lawn or any turfgrass area, a good rule of thumb is one inch of water per week in the growing season. You can access technical sheets online that illustrate your sprinkler heads and spacing, providing the precipitation rate in minutes. Still, it is just as easy to set a cylindrical cup in the middle of your lawn and run your irrigation system for a certain amount of time (10 to 15 minutes), and then measure how much was applied. Then, you can take this amount and have a starting point to achieve the one-inch-per-week threshold. You can do this over multiple areas to get more of an average and adjust your run times from there.
Over and underwatering can both lead to potential problems with your lawn. Underwatering can cause wilted grass that does not stand up to traffic well and is more susceptible to insect pests. Overwatering can encourage various fungal diseases, as well as, the encroachment of various “sedge” type grasses. Overwatering can also be expensive and just plain wasteful.
The best time to water is early in the mornings and ideally, you want your water cycle to be off as the sun comes up. There are two reasons for this. The first is that you want water to spend as little time on the leaf blades as possible so as not to encourage diseases, and the second is you want to take advantage of cooler temperatures to limit the loss of water due to evaporation. Watering during the day’s heat can be done, although it is not recommended due to the loss of water from evaporation. Given the clay soil prevalent in East Tennessee, achieving deep and infrequent watering during the summer poses a challenge. Therefore, I recommend aiming for approximately 0.25 inches of water four times per week initially, with adjustments made accordingly based on observation and need. The installation of a rain sensor is also a must and can save money and water as well.
Bright Grove irrigation technicians can set up your system to maximize efficiency and troubleshoot and repair any issues you may encounter throughout the year as well. Water is one of our most precious, natural resources and like any resource, we do not want to waste it. This is why it pays to be water-smart.
