by Dave Logan
Everybody loves a beautifully green, healthy lawn. However, achieving this requires a lot of watering. A lot of watering means higher costs to you and more depletion of a progressively-diminishing water supply. Today, we’re going to give you some tips to help you reduce your water consumption while maintaining a healthy lawn and landscape. You may have an HOA or community water restrictions, so please keep that in mind along with our recommendations.
Water only when necessary. Most people overwater their lawns, period. Not only is this bad in terms of conservation, but overwatering is also bad for your lawn. Fungus and other diseases can plague your lawn if you’re overwatering. The tried and true way of knowing when your lawn needs watering? Look at it! If the grass blades are beginning to curl and the color is fading to gray or brown, you need to water. Unhealthy grass also flattens easier and longer. You want your grass to be resilient and quickly spring back to vertical after walking across it. As a guide, if 25% or more of your lawn is showing the above negative symptoms, it’s time to water.
Water deeply. Dig a small hole on one portion of your lawn to see how far the grass roots penetrate the soil. This will tell you how deeply you need to water. Most likely, the depth will range from 6” – 12”. Knowing this will also tell you how long you need to run your sprinklers. Here’s how you do it: turn your sprinkler on for 15 to 20 minutes. Wait about 24 hours, dig a small hole, and see how far down the soil is soaked. Now you can adequately guage how long you need to run your sprinkler to encourage deep root growth for your lawn. Keep in mind that you only need to dig out a small portion of your lawn to discover the root and water depth. If you don’t have a solid understanding of your soil composition, this is the most accurate way to figure it out and water efficiently.
Water in the morning, not at night. Mornings typically offer unique conditions more favorable than other times in the day. Water between 3:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. for ideal air conditions and minimal wind. This way you take advantage of every bit of water coming from your sprinklers.
Stop watering your street, sidewalk, and driveway. No matter how much you water concrete, it won’t grow! 😉 Make sure your sprinkler system or unit is adjusted so it only waters your grass. Trust me, this will save you a lot of water.
Rain is your friend. You’ve seen it a hundred times: sprinkler systems blasting out quantities of water while it’s pouring rain outside. What a waste. Why this happens is understandable given most sprinkler systems are set and run on timers. But installing a rain sensor on your existing sprinkler system will keep it from activating during rain. And if you water manually, pay attention to the weather. No need to water if it’s going to rain later in the day.
Buy or build a rain barrel. A rain barrel is simply a barrel that captures and distributes rain water in your garden or specific landscaped areas of plants and flowers. Essentially, it captures the rainwater from your home’s gutter. The advantages of a rain barrel are clear: maximizing the use of free water and minimizing runoff that picks up chemicals and waste. Minimizing that runoff means far less pollution in our rivers and lakes!
Now is the time of year when everyone is breaking out the hoses and sprinklers to keep those lawns looking healthy. We know it’s important, but let’s keep our environment, conservation, and efficiency top of mind as well.
For more helpful information on these and other home improvement projects, check in often with the TDL Blog. And don’t forget to visit TeamDaveLogan.com to find a trusted home improvement professional in Denver and Boulder that will help you with your next project!
