Not seeing any reward for your watering efforts?
Homeowners have many different ideas about how to care for their lawn and about how to keep their lawns properly hydrated. Frankly, there are all sorts of misconceptions regarding irrigation. Elaborate sprinkler systems and constant watering don’t guarantee a healthy lawn.
Rather than guessing about what your lawn might need, take note of these five proven watering tips and provide your grass with the best lawn care possible!
1. Match the amount of water to the soil type
It’s true that different types of soil can hold drastically different amounts of water and that excess water will simply pool or run off your lawn.
Make sure you know your lawn’s soil type and irrigation needs before creating a watering schedule. If you have any questions about your lawn’s soil type, don’t hesitate to ask us at your next lawn care appointment. Our lawn care experts are happy to provide more details and explain to you how to properly care for your lawn.
Clay soils are able to hold a significant amount of water, while sandy soils aren’t able to hold nearly as much. Certain lawns—such as those in housing developments—have been stripped of their topsoil. As a result, they are only able to hold a very little amount of water at first. They require long periods of watering, once per week.
2. Only water your lawn once to twice per week
Many people assume that more frequent water equates to more growth but that is not the case. Watering too frequently can be just as detrimental as under-watering. NEVER water a little bit every day. Doing so just helps weed seeds to sprout and get established.
Most lawns only need to be watered once (in clay soil) to twice per week (in sandy soil). As long as your lawn receives the right amount of water for the soil during a watering session, gets plenty of sunlight, and is mowed properly, it will be getting everything it needs to grow and thrive. As a rule, 4 hours of water in each area per week is ideal.
3. Find the right sprinkler for your lawn needs
When it comes to sprinklers, there is no wrong option; but identifying the right spray pattern for your lawn will make it easier to cover the whole lawn. Every lawn is different, and as such requires different lawn care treatment or in this instant lawn care tools.
Today, there are sprinklers to cover almost any space imaginable—from rotary sprinklers to impact sprinklers to fixed sprinklers and all of the different spray patterns in between.
Measure your lawn and determine which sprinkler will require the least amount of repositioning to cover your entire lawn!
4. Be careful with new grass
If you’ve recently seeded certain areas of your lawn, it’s important that you water these spots with the utmost care. Patches of new seed require a different watering approach in order to sprout, grow, and thrive along with the rest of your lawn.
The key to proper watering in these areas is to tend to them more often but with less water. In other words, you will want to make sure that you water once or twice per day using a light mist setting. This is exactly the opposite of what an established lawn needs.
This method will ensure that the seeds and soil are consistently damp but not to the point where seeds begin to clump together and cause uneven growth.
5. Don’t neglect the spring months!
Ontario lawn maintenance isn’t easy. Every year, thousands of homeowners are slow to start watering their lawns. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL IT GOES YELLOW TO START WATERING!
If you wait until June to start watering, your lawn will have compensated for the lack of water by cannibalizing its root system. When that happens, weeds move in and it is VERY difficult to bring the grass out of dormancy and looking lush and green again.
Start your watering the first week of May, and continue once per week (in clay soil), or twice per week (in sandy soil) right through until Labour Day. Remember, if you don’t know your soil type, LawnMart can tell you.
For watering, residential mosquito control, and lawn maintenance north of Toronto, don’t hesitate to contact the LawnMart team today. We will put together a lawn care plan that keeps your grass looking its best year-round!
Contact us, our lawn care experts are here to help.