How Much WATER

[chasineyes]

How much water does my lawn really need? I have 80% sand and after a 3 inch rain, I could drive on my lawn. I'm cutting back on the $200 water bills this summer and only looking to maintain it. I've heard 1" a week is all that's really needed. Is it ok for it to go brown. Which is already happening.

[Quetico]

I've always gotten away with 1" per month. Watch your watering routine as most cities and municipalities have watering restrictions. I know some wont let you do more than 1" per week.

Its really funny when you start looking at people's irrigation systems and realize the program they are on violates that area's watering restrictions.

[MNice]

Ain't that the truth!! I work for a 'burb, and in the winter we pump about 3 million gallons per day, in summer about 7-9 million gallons. What a waste IMHO. An inch a week is all thats needed in most cases.

[BobT]

I never water my lawn. If it turns brown and goes dormant like it did last year, I save a pile in mowing costs and time.

Bob

[Sandmannd]

I agree with Bob. Only mow twice a month that way. It sucks cause I work all spring getting it nice and green and then we have horrible summers with no rain so it goes dormant. Not gonna pay hundreds to keep a lawn green.

[hoggs222]

I've got a sandpoint well for watering, so I pretty much have it going for a few hours every other day. The lawn looks great. If I don't water when it's hot out, it looks like h#ll.

My neighbor and I are the only ones on the block with a well and ours are the only green lawns on the block.

[Quetico]

A solution true to my ecologically friendly roots: No Mow Fescue Lawns. Stay green in the summer droughts without irrigation.

Questions about no mow? As always hit me up at [email protected]

[solbes]

When we bought our house, if you pulled up the turf it would look like a beach. No black dirt laid down and pure sand. We've been mulching with the mower for 7 years now and we've got some pretty decent soil underneath now (I just dug up the grass under our deck). Keep the mower deck pretty high (mine goes to the last or 2nd to last setting in peak summer).

Still if your lawn is like mine, it will turn a purply-orange color sometimes only 1 day after watering during the peak of the summer. That won't hurt it, but weeks of it will. My neighbor lost his whole lawn because he didn't water at all during June one year when it rained very little.

I thought I had heard 1.5" of water was ideal during the peak summer. And for some reason rain water perks it up so much better than city water.

I try to keep my lawn looking nice, but I certainly try to get the amounts in each zone dialed in so it's just barely getting enough. No reason to waste any.

[Powerstroke]

Important cultural practices for a green lawn would be to water ~1" a week, and keep your mower deck no lower than 3" for Kentucky Bluegrass.

If you are on sandy soil then you should consider using drought-resistant cultivars of turf.

If you have high-maintenance turfgrass in a less than ideal location then you have to do the best with what you've got.

Even with an irrigation system I don't water more than 1", I mow at 3.5" and I mulch my clippings back into the lawn for free fertilizer.

[ottertailguy]

The lower you cut the grass the faster it will dry out. I keep my mower deck at 4" in the summer and water in the early morning to avoid evaporation. Watering alone will not keep it green, you must feed it also.

[dakotakid31]

All that nice potable water being used for lawns. We pay for our water also so there is no way i am paying a muskie rods worth of money to keep it green.

[Powerstroke]

You want to talk about using potable water for lawns......Eden Prairie softens their water at the plant.

That means people water their lawn with softened water, I help fight fires with soft water, and the best one, people buy water softeners for their house......for their soft water, cause they don't know any better.