In this, the 5th and final installment of “The Top 10 Myths of Lawn Care and What YOU Can Do About It” we uncover the biggest and most influential lawn care myths!  Strangly enough, both of them talk about watering.  This just goes to show the importance of watering and how big an impact correct watering can have on your lawns’ overall health.

Myth #2: If my lawn is dry, it’s not getting watered frequently enough.

It is logical to assume that if your lawn is dry, more water is required.  That statement is true, but we must consider the difference between quality and quantity (depth vs. frequency).  Frequent, 15 minute bursts of watering keeps the moisture very shallow.  This allows other players to steal it from your lawn, like the sun or new, germinating weeds.  It may not be that your grass isn’t getting enough water, but that their roots are missing out in what’s needed. By the time the water finally gets past the crown and into the roots, the sprinklers are turned off, thus resulting in drought.

Solution: Grass roots can grow up to ten inches deep, therefore, we recommend about ten inches of moist soil before you stop watering.  Your lawn, like your new pet, can and must be trained! It is important to water deeply and only as needed to force a deep root system, strengthen your lawn, and help prevent new weeds!

Let me reemphasize this: Train your roots by watering deeply and only as needed to save you time, water and money; and save your lawn from weed infestations and other problems!

When properly trained, a good deep, even watering (about 10 inches of moist soil), between one and two times a week will be sufficient for your lawn. However, it may be necessary (if your soil is dry) to water more frequently during an especially dry and/or hot spell.

Myth #1: My sprinkler system has even coverage.

While it is possible that when your sprinkler system was installed, it was fairly even, over time the weather and other external forces cause sprinklers to self adjust. This becomes readily apparent as the weather turns hot and dry in late spring and summer, where you will see signs of drought in certain areas.

Solution: To fix this problem, simply take the following steps:

1. Place containers of the same size and shape around your coverage area to catch the water; some in the green areas of your lawn and some in those areas which are prone to turn brown.
2. After a good watering, observe each container to see where coverage is low.  This will help you determine which areas are driest.
3. Take this knowledge and adjust the sprinklers to better water the dryer areas.  (If you don’t have time to adjust your sprinklers immediately, use a hose sprinkler to augment watering in dry areas until you have time).
4. Repeat these steps until you have reasonably even coverage.

Conclusion

We hope you’ve learned something new by reading this article.   We would really appreciate any feedback you could give on this article or any lawn care questions you may have.   Leave a comment or email us.  Help us, help you to grow and maintain a superb lawn!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Featured, Lawn Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.