Surprisingly, a lot of people have trouble figuring out when to water their lawn, especially during the hot weather. Even if you don’t have drought restrictions in your state or are dealing with a large drought, it can still be confusing.
How do you decide to water your lawn in hot weather? Is there the best time or consistency to give your lawn enough water to be okay during the hotter months?
Thankfully, yes there is! If you like having a green and healthy lawn, then you can follow some of these gardening tips to ensure that your lawn stays perfectly healthy.
Depending on the state you are in and the climate you are used to, hot weather could mean 80 degrees (26.67°C) or a large swathe of your ground becoming desert. Whatever your level of hotness is, you are able to water your lawn without any trouble.
Here are some things that are helpful to take into consideration.
The type of grass that you have on the lawn can depend on the amount of water that you can use to cover the lawn. Some types of grass such as Tall Fescue, Buffalograss, and Wheatgrass are very drought resistant and don’t need a lot of water. Some grasses are also warm-season grasses that really enjoy the heat.
Warm-season grasses such as Bermudagrass, St. Augustine, and Zoysia grass love the heat and can respond quickly to water after heat. If you have full sun and grasses that love the sun in your yard, then you are good to have a green yard.
What Time Of Day Are You Watering?
In order to water in very hot weather, you should aim to water in the morning. Anywhere from 6 AM to 10 AM, so focus on watering earlier in the morning during the very hot days.
Whenever you water in the cooler morning, more of the water soaks into the grass and the soil and gets to the roots of the plants. This means that you get a healthier lawn as well, and less of the water evaporates away.
During the afternoon, the water gets evaporated before it gets into the grass and dries up before it can do any good.
Additionally, if you water too much into the lawn to compensate for that aspect, or you try to keep your grass watered overnight, then it can bring disease to your waterlogged grass.
How Much Should You Water?
If you do water in the morning, you can have the best chance to support your lawn through the hot weather. Now it comes back into how much you should water and how often you should water.
Some of these recommendations are going to be changed depending on the state, but by making sure that your lawn gets around 1 to 1.5 inches of water you should be all good.
Additionally, you should focus on the type of soil that you have. Sandy or looser soil needs more water as it does drain more often and needs to be watered more often.
A clay-like soil that is much harder is going to need much less watering because it retains water so much. However, it also dries out less and can be overwatered.
If you see runoff or puddles forming on the ground or the street nearby, that is a sign that you may be overwatering far too much and need to stop watering. Experiment with one inch of water, and then see what your lawn looks like before trying again.
What Type Of Sprinklers Do You Have?
Depending on the sprinkler system that you use, your water level required for the lawn can change. If you have an in-ground system with sprinkler heads, then you should make sure that your sprinklers have even spread over your lawn.
Make sure to keep your sprinklers well maintained.
You should have low angled sprinklers that should provide good coverage for your entire lawn, being low angled enough to minimize the evaporation and allowing your lawn to get effective coverage in the morning.
If you don’t have an irrigation-style sprinkler system, an oscillating system that moves the water around (and it was also the kind of sprinkler you ran through as a kid) can work just as well.
Make sure to give your entire lawn some sort of coverage and also make sure you are timing how long the sprinkler is going to go off. No one wants to keep it on too long and overwater the lawn. That’s a recipe for wasted water and a damaged lawn that looks more like a marsh.
What If I Just Depend On Rain?
Of course, if you find yourself dealing with intermittent rainfall over the course of the next few weeks, you need to handle it. Rain can seriously mess with your watering schedule, and while overwatering isn’t going to kill your lawn it is not going to help the look.
Still, rain can be just as useful as a sprinkler system when it comes to caring for your lawn. You can use a rain gauge to check the amount of rain that is coming into your home and see if that’s done enough for your yard.
Some rain gauges are simple enough, while others are complex. These gauges scan for the various weather patterns in your local area and can actually adjust the water output to compensate.
If you don’t want to purchase a sprinkler controller and go through the hassle of getting everything set up, then you should focus on getting a low-tech option. A small can that is about 1.5 inches tall. If you attach it to the ground, it should work very well as a measuring device.
What Happens If I Don’t Water?
If you are dealing with rain, other problems, or simply don’t have the sprinkler system that can help you water your lawn, that’s okay. Most hot temperatures, unless you are in a massive 100-degree temperature day or inside of drought, are going to destroy your lawn.
Your grass might be less green, but a little bit of extra water is going to bring that greenback.
If you want a perfectly green and manicured lawn, then you need to keep it well maintained with water. If you are okay with your lawn looking a little unkempt during the warmer months, then it shouldn’t matter.
Watering your lawn isn’t mandatory, and even on the hottest days, no law makes you water your lawn. However, if you want to get a good lawn, you should water it every week or so.
Keep Your Water Ready To Go
If you have decided to start watering your lawn during the mornings in hot weather, you should make sure to keep it consistent.
Having a habit of watering at a certain time such as: ‘I want to water at 8:30 every single Friday’ can make sure that you keep your lawn ready to go and green even in the hottest weather.
You can water your lawn every single week, keep the water amount consistent, and have a green lawn no matter the weather! What homeowner wouldn’t like that?
Leave a Reply