Sos Roofline Systems

Question: I want golf course lush. So how much and how frequently should I water my grass?

Innocent enough question. But one with a myriad of answers really. With the best one being “It depends.” Let me explain.

Generally the rule of thumb answer given is you want to water about an inch a week. But sometimes rules of thumb become unquestioned rules that can’t be violated. You know, the type that are cast in stone to be followed at all costs?

Yet the answer to how much and often to water your grass is really dependent on a variety of factors. Simply spouting a rule of thumb and being done with it won’t cut it for that reason.

For starters, even though obvious, I do need to point out one needs to know how often it rains before giving a reply.

Related to that last point is you only want to water when your lawn needs it. And it’s not like it has a calendar counting down the days to the next water-fest. But if it looks weak and limp (under stress) and when you walk on your grass you can look back and see footprints because it doesn’t spring back like it should, well, it’s fair to say that it’s time to water.

How often to water also depends on the grass you’ve got. Some varieties require more others need less – water.

Then too what setting your mower is set to plays a role. The longer the grass the less often you’ll likely need to water and still have a decent looking lawn. Then too leaving the clippings is a good way to recycle moisture back into your lawn.

“How’s your roots?” is another consideration. You want the roots of your lawn to be deep because that means you’ll have less need to water as often. The way to get that is to water deeply and infrequently. Which the one inch a week rule supporters would support wholeheartedly. Just keep in mind water that soaks in beyond the root zone does your grass absolutely no good whatsoever.

Grass Truth: The height of the blade dictates the depth of the root. The longer the blade the deeper the root.

It can’t hurt to let the top part of your root zone dry out. Doing so results in shallow rooted weeds dying off. Ot prevent disease from taking hold. Plus weed seeds find it harder to germinate.

Another thing to consider is thatch build up. Is it thick and preventing good water penetration or what?

The final point is don’t set the output of your sprinkler to that there’s more water than the soil can absorb. Any resulting run off isn’t going to help your grass look any better

You see? There’s more to this than mindlessly muttering the one inch a week rule over and over like some magic chant. These think abouts, when thought about and applied, can produce a greener, thicker stand of grass with less water in your yard too.

Dewey “Jeep” Capasso is avid about grass. He likes nothing better than writing about growing thick, lush grass and exploring which one is the best riding lawn mower to keep it looking great. If you would like zero turn mower reviews, learn how to prevent crabgrass from taking over, or how to select the right mower then it seems like you need to stop by MowerMania.com.