The Guide on How to Water Your Lawn | Lawn Watering Tips

I enjoy monitoring my lawn's water needs and remember my learning curve as I slowly began to understand the gray areas. Literally, parts of my Zoysia lawn turn gray when they are drying out! 

Join me as we unpack this and other nuances of how and when to water lawns.

When to Water TifTuf Bermuda

TifTuf Bermuda is the only grass to earn the Smart Drop Certified designation for its exceptional water efficiency. That means you can switch off your irrigation and enjoy the benefits of a modern lawn designed to remain green during typical summer droughts in the South.

When to Water Other Lawns

1. Water in the Morning

There are several advantages to irrigating in the morning; however, some confusion surrounds when exactly the morning is.

In the context of watering lawns and gardens, the morning is just before sunrise - in the summer, that's around 5:30 AM. Yes, 1:00 AM is technically the morning, but water sits on leaves in the dark for several hours before evaporation. The goal of watering in the morning is to avoid water sitting on leaves for very long, and watering at 1 AM negates that.

Also, think about your irrigation finishing times, rather than just the start time, and complete irrigation by 10 AM, to coincide with when dew naturally evaporates. If you are going to cheat this time slot, go earlier before sunrise rather than later than 10:00 AM. If you cannot complete all zones in one day, separate some into another day.

Avoid watering in the late afternoon or evenings because water will sit on the leaves all night.

Morning Watering Reduces Diseases

Why the fuss about water on leaves? Isn't this natural?

Water lingering on grass blades increases fungal activity, such as the "patch" diseases, the dreaded large and brown patches. Yes, evening rainfall is natural and unavoidable in climates prone to afternoon storms. Still, as gardeners and lawn whisperers, it's in our power to avoid irrigating at that time, augmenting any issues.

Morning Watering Reduces Water Loss

Watering in the morning reduces water loss from displacement by wind and rapid evaporation from direct sunlight.

• Winds are usually still in the morning before the sun heats the earth and generates breezes. By watering when the winds are calmer, less irrigation water will be blown away from your lawn.
• Natural summer heat and the heat from direct sunlight will cause your irrigation water to evaporate before it reaches the ground.

Irrigating in the morning conserves this precious natural resource and saves you money, but you've probably noticed it is a bit of a dance around timing. You want to water at a time when the water will not remain on the leaves too long while giving it enough time to percolate into the root zone before evaporating. Thus, summertime watering just before sunrise, around 5:30 AM, with completion around 10:00 AM, is the sweet spot!

2. Water When a Lawn has Drought Stress

Consider spot-watering localized dry spots instead of the entire lawn.

Due to compaction during new home construction, I struggle with a "hot spot" in my Zoysia lawn. It turns gray, and the leaves start slightly rolling (rather than wilting like leaves on flowering plants, turfgrass blades roll inward along the sides to form a tube) before the advanced stages of drought stress, which are rolling even tighter and then turning brown. 

I try to stay ahead of this by providing enough water, but if I notice that gray color is developing, I provide supplemental watering only to that area.

3. Irrigate According to Municipal Water Restrictions

Please be a good citizen and follow your city ordinances regarding watering schedules. Depending on your address, they usually specify watering only in the mornings and certain days. The schedules are typically listed on municipality water websites.

How Much to Water Your Lawn

As a general rule, keeping your lawn healthy requires 1 inch of water weekly, including rainfall. 

Average Lawn Water Requirements in Summer

What if it Rains? Your goal is to supplement rainfall shortages. We recommend that you don't use fixed-timer irrigation settings. Instead, monitor rainfall and turn your irrigation off according to the number of inches in the rain gauge. 

Using irrigation water to fill the gaps between rainfalls is critical to a healthy, attractive lawn. TifTuf Bermuda is the only exception because irrigation is unnecessary to maintain a beautiful TifTuf lawn!

If one or more inches of rainfall occur in a week, additional irrigation is unnecessary. Example: if 1/2 inch of rain occurs within a growing week, apply 1/2 inch by irrigation.

Coupling your use of sprinkler water with feedback from a rain gauge will result in a healthier and more attractive lawn and lower water bills.

How to Use a Rain Gauge: Using a rain gauge to guide how many inches of supplemental water to provide is another way to conserve this natural resource and keep water bills lower. To determine how much water you are applying, place a rain gauge midway between the sprinkler and the end of the coverage and check the water depth in the gauge after a planned length of time (approximately 1/2 hour), then calculate the total time needed to apply 1/2 inch of water at a time.

Avoid Runoff: Water as long as you can so the water percolates deeply into the soil while avoiding runoff (runoff is wasteful - you can save money and conserve resources by preventing water runoff). 

Avoid irrigating so much that water runs off the lawn surface and on to walks and roads.

If runoff occurs, pause your irrigation to allow the water to seep into the soil.

Avoid Overwatering: Do not waste water by overwatering; avoid standing water for any period of time. Overwatering lawns can cause them to languish and die, too.

Some Nuanced Watering Tips

• Clay soils require less water and less frequent watering than sandier soils. Yet, compacted clay is a significant challenge and will need more watering than you expect (a particular problem in new construction).

• Less water is required during cloudy weeks of summer when it's also slightly less hot; same thing during the shoulder seasons of spring and fall. During these times, turn your irrigation on and off according to your local shifts in weather.

• You may need to water areas on mounds and berms more often than lower areas.
• You may need to water more often near buildings or concrete driveways and sidewalks because their reflected heat will dry the turf faster.
• Areas shaded by trees may require more water to support both trees and turf grasses.
  

How to Water Lawns - Devices

There are two basic kinds of sprinkler systems:

1. Automatic Lawn Irrigation Systems (underground): The most efficient irrigation method is through an underground lawn sprinkler system. It is a good investment in your lawn and the value of your home. Plus, it will make your life easier because you won't need to drag hoses around. A professionally installed system should be designed for complete and even distribution across your lawn, have battery back-up for timers, and a rain sensor to stop the system when rain occurs.
2. Portable Hose-End Sprinklers (above ground): Basically, this system is just your spigot, hose, sprinkler, and you. This arrangement is much less expensive than underground systems, but it requires more of your labor to move the sprinkler around the lawn. This is a practical choice if you don't have a big lawn and like to be outside. Many sprinklers have different spray patterns, from oscillating, to rotating, to stationary. We recommend getting spigot timers to at least automate the sprinkler turning on at 5:30 AM.

Automatic Lawn Irrigation - Pop-up sprinklers installed before sod is laid.

Even More Watering Tips Tips 

How to Water When Installing Sod:

• Water new sod as you lay it. Read further about Watering Sod During Installation. 

Watering Tips for Brand New Lawns:

• Water enough to keep it wet like a sponge until it roots in. Refer to our complete tips on Watering Brand New Sod. 

What to do When There's a Drought:

• Consider letting the lawn go dormant in drought conditions. Warm-season lawns like Bermuda, Zoysia, and Centipede will regenerate once water is more available. It's hard to believe, but you will marvel at their toughness when you see it happen!
• Click here to read our 11 horticultural tips on How to Ensure Your Lawn Survives Drought.
• Consider switching to the drought-tolerant TifTuf Bermuda. You can turn off your irrigation, and TifTuf will stay green during the typical two- to three-month-long droughts that sometimes occur in the South.

Landscaping Hacks:

• Select drought-tolerant TifTuf Bermuda so you always have a green lawn, even in droughts.
• Read our 10 Reasons Why Sod is the Best at Controlling Erosion.

Water & Mowing - What to Do:

• Avoid scalping your lawn.
• Always use a sharp blade - sharp blades make clean cuts, thus reducing water loss.
• In drought conditions, mow at a higher cutting height with a sharp blade. Look up the mowing height for your type of lawn in our Lawn Maintenance Guides.
• Use robotic lawn mowers for a cleaner cut, thus less water loss and stress on your lawn.

Water & Fertilizing - What to Do:

• Fertilize your lawn at the proper rate for your location and turf selection to prevent run-off of excess fertilizer. Look up fertilizer rates for your type of lawn in our Lawn Maintenance Guides.
• Aerate heavy soils to promote better fertilizer and water penetration to lawn roots.

Got questions? Leave a comment below!