Start the season off right with irrigation tips that will keep your lawn in good shape all summer long. For Royal Lawn Care clients, cutting season is now in full swing, the second fertilizer application is down, clients with our weed package have been serviced and spring cleanups are in the works.
Royal Lawn Care begins opening irrigation systems this month so we have some tips for watering your lawn as well as the professionals do!
Amount of Water
For the best conditions, a lawn should have 2 deep watering cycles a week with each of them consisting of 1 and a ½ inches of water. The best time to apply water to your lawn is just before daybreak, allowing the water time to get down into the soil before the sun and heat of the day start to evaporate the irrigation water.
Soil Conditions
Your lawn has the best chance of thriving when it has a soil base with deep roots that drain slowly. Unfortunately, not everyone has these conditions to work with. Some properties have sod laid on top of fill dirt with very little topsoil or no topsoil at all.
These conditions should be addressed differently with more frequent watering and feeding. This is to compensate for the lack of nutrients in the soil to feed the plant and no root base to find the water the plant needs. These soils can also be addressed in the fall by aeration, compost, and applying gypsum to address soil compaction.
Frequency of Watering
Realistically, most people overwater their lawns. When you overwater, the roots receive all the water they need from the top layer of the soil which deters the roots from going deep. When this happens, more water is required from the irrigation system.
When you see your lawn starting to stress from lack of water it encourages the root system to go deeper to find water. This is not a bad thing! Don’t turn the timer up for the whole system, just the zone that’s stressing. Then, once the proper times are set throughout the system use the seasonal adjustment in your control box to bump the systems times up using the percentage dial. This should be done throughout the season as the heat starts to rise.
For more tips and tricks to keep your lawn in great condition over the summer, check out our blog and contact our Royal Lawn Care team for more property maintenance and services.