The grass in your lawn requires a considerable amount of upkeep and maintenance.
Most people don’t pay any attention to their lawn, and it often ends up affecting the landscaping across the yard.
If you like spending time out in the garden or the yard, you will want to make sure the grass is properly watered. However, if you think you can just randomly water the grass any time you want, think again.
Proper watering is essential to maintain the clean and green environment, and it is important that you maintain a schedule.
If you don’t water the grass on time, it won’t take long before the grass shrivels up and dies.
Similarly, if you add too much water to the grass, it’s probably going to get oversaturated, and also succumb to its death.
Watering the lawn might seem like a basic task for most people, but understanding how much water to give, and when to water, can be a tad bit confusing.
You might have heard that watering your lawn in the evening is a great idea, and if you take a look around your neighborhood, you might even see automatic sprinklers turning on at a few of the houses. But, is that really a suitable option?
Most people don’t even give this a thought, but the timing of the watering actually plays an important role.
If you water your lawn at an inappropriate time, the water might not be absorbed properly.
If you want a lawn that is healthy and luscious, you have to pay attention to a few things and make sure that you water the lawn at an appropriate time.
Now, you might have already heard that watering grass seeds at night is not a wise move. Some people do it, but if you talk to any gardener in the neighborhood, they will simply say the same thing; it’s something that should be avoided at all costs.
Let’s talk about why watering your lawn at night is a problem.
Watering Your Lawn at Night
There are a few problems with watering your lawn at night.
The reason why some people actually believe that watering your lawn is a good idea is because evaporation is reduced. The temperatures are cooler, so you can easily water the grass without having to worry about reduced water content.
This way, you end up conserving quite a bit of water in the process. Moreover, the absorption qualities of your turf are also improved when you water it at night.
But, there’s a small problem: if too much evaporation is bad, zero evaporation is much worse.
There are a host of bacterial diseases and fungal problems that can cause serious harm to your lawn, and your plants are certainly not going to live well in wet conditions.
Because there won’t be any sun available to burn off the water, the excess water is just going to be present there.
Considering the fact that you will leave the water all night, you can only imagine just how much harm is likely to be caused to your plants.
Think of it this way: you are essentially turning your lawn into a petri dish with a host of bacteria and other microbes that are just looking at different ways to cause damage to your plants.
Now, obviously, that also means that you should not water the plants during the hottest part of the day, which is the afternoon.
So, when is the best time to water your plants? Well, let’s answer this question!
What’s the Best Time to Water the Plants?
Simply put, the best thing to do is to water your lawn in the morning, before the clock hits 10 a.m.
The morning brings with it a cooler temperature, especially when you consider the spike during midday, and because there aren’t any heavy winds or breezes that you need to worry about, you can rest assured that all of the condensation and the water from your sprinklers will end up directly in your lawn.
This also improves the efficacy of the watering, as you won’t be losing any water at all. This will also ensure that the water does not evaporate straight into the air.
Ultimately, this means that you will be using less water to keep your lawn hydrated, and on top of that, your grass seed will be getting more than enough water to grow properly.
Because it gets water early on during the day, the grass seed will continue to grow and thrive during the midday.
There’s also another reason why you should water during the morning instead of the afternoon; it helps keep the temperatures cool.
The temperature will remain cooler around your lawn during the course of the day, and this reduces the amount of stress on the lawn.
As a general rule, you should make it a habit to water your lawn before 10 a.m. If you have automatic sprinklers, you need to set the time accordingly so that they are able to water your lawn properly.
But, if it’s not convenient for you to water the plants in the morning, the next best time is late afternoon. But, you should avoid waiting too long for this.
It might seem like a smart idea to some to wait until nightfall as the temperature drops, but we have already talked about the harmful effects of just letting water sit in the same place.
How Long Should I Water?
Simply finding the right time to water your plants isn’t the only solution; you also have to understand the quantity of water that your grass seeds require.
This is quite important to know in general, because ideally, you will want to make sure that sandy soils are watered after every three days or so.
On the other hand, clay soils should only be watered at least once a week.
Now, many people are confused about just how much water they should provide to their grass seed on the lawn. Well, to put it simply, you will want to make sure that you provide enough water to soak at least six inches of the soil.
But why six inches, you might ask?
Again, six inches is required to let deep grass roots grow properly. However, while it’s easy to understand that your soil receives at least six inches of water, how do you figure out the time it will take for the water to soak down to the six inches?
The thing is, every lawn is different, so it all depends on the composition of your soil.
In most cases, however, you should leave the water on for at least 15 minutes.
But, if you notice that the soil isn’t properly wet, you might want to leave it on for a bit longer, usually between 20 and 25 minutes.
If you want, you can buy a hygrometer from your local gardening store, and stick it in different parts of the soil.
A few days of testing is more than enough to figure out just how long you should water your lawn for.
If you are using sprinklers, make sure that adequate water is provided in all areas of the lawn. Otherwise, you will notice burnt patches appearing on different parts of the lawn.
If that happens, just redirect a bit of the water over to the burnt area, and you will have the grass growing there in no time.
What’s the Best Time to Water in the Cooler Areas?
There are quite a few things that you need to understand about watering your plants in the cooler weather conditions.
In most cases, the weather remains quite hot during the growing season, whereas the dormant season remains relatively cool. So, if you live in these areas (especially the south), you might be wondering about the ideal time to water your plants.
Basically, you won’t need to water your lawns at all when the temperatures are relatively cool. Even in areas that receive significantly less rainfall, there’s generally enough water available to support the roots, so during this time, that’s virtually all you really need.
If you try to add more water, it’s only going to lead to other problems such as root rot on your plants.
You have to try and make sure that you maintain a balance when watering the soil.
Also, another important thing that you need to consider is the compactness and aeration of the soil.
If the soil is way too compact and hasn’t been aerated in a while, it might be a wise idea on your part to get started with the aeration. Otherwise, the water won’t be able to reach the roots properly, and this could prove to be a serious problem over the passage of time.
These are just a few tips to water and ensure effective turf management on the soil.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
--
If you want more backyard tips including recipes, how-tos and more, make sure you subscribe to my youtube channel