GardeningSustainability

How Often Should I Be Watering My Lawns?

Watering My Lawns

It can seem like a bit of a guessing game when it comes to lawn care and when you should mow your lawns. There doesn’t appear to be any “one size fits all” approach, as plenty of variables come into play.

Where you live, your climate, weather patterns, grass type, and current grass health may all factor into the question you’re asking yourself: how often should I be watering my lawns? And have I been doing it wrong all this time?

Don’t Over-water Your Lawns

To keep your lawns thriving, green, and beautiful in what is often a drought-plagued country, you might think that watering more is doing your gardens a favour. It’s not. When you water your lawns a lot, as in, every day, they don’t get a chance to seek out water for themselves and lengthen their roots.

If you over water your lawns, their roots are short, and they are more likely to sulk when you stop watering them as often. What’s more, a damp lawn is an open invitation for moisture-loving pests and disease to move in.

Let Your Lawn Tell You When It Wants Water

Lawns can communicate with you without saying anything, so listen to what they are saying. A lawn that needs water is one that is starting to wilt or change color from green to brown. Read these signs and water when your grass gets to this point. Grass needs time between watering to deliver air to the roots and encourage them to seek water sources deep in the ground.

Change Your Watering Patterns Each Season

Your watering habits should change with each season. You shouldn’t need to water your lawn in winter, except on the odd occasion with limited rainfall.

In autumn and spring, watering should be infrequent and, once again, when you see those signs of grass suffering. In summer, keep watering to once or twice a week but in line with any drought restrictions in place as well. If there is a water ban in place, you must abide by the restrictions put in place – even at the expense of your lawn’s health.

Water Deeply

You might not only be getting the frequency of the watering wrong but the level as well. How long you water your grass for can make all the difference. There has to be enough water to sink to where the root structure needs it, and at a rate that’s faster than the lawn and sunshine can evaporate it. If you’re not sure how much that is, put a container on your grass. When there is around 15 mm of water in it, you’ve probably given your grass enough for the day.

If you’ve come to realise that your current watering pattern is not doing right by your lawns, then now’s the time to form a new lawn care habit. However, don’t give your grass a reason to panic and start growing strangely. Slowly change your watering pattern over time and allow your grass to adjust. You’ll be the master of lawn care and watering in no time.