Spring is upon us, and most irrigation districts in the Boise area have their water turned on (or will soon), so I thought it would be a good time to beat a dead horse. Lets talk about how you should water your lawn.
Everybody has an opinion on the subject it seems, so I thought I might offer Barrier’s official version (of course the only correct opinion!)
The general rule of thumb is to water deeply and infrequently. Yes, I said infrequently! In other words don’t water everyday! By watering everyday or every other day, your lawn is, big surprise, always wet! Add a 90 degree day to moist conditions and you get fungus & disease. Your lawn needs to dry out between irrigation.
So how much do you need to water to water ‘deeply?’ You should water to the point of complete saturation of the root profile, then let it dry. One or two times per week is good (once per week early and late in the season, 2 times per week the rest of the time). By getting the water deep into the soil, your grass roots will follow. With a deeper root system, your turf will have better access to nutrients in the soil, be better able to cope with drought-stress, and more resistant to disease.
If your lawn seems too dry or too wet, adjust your watering times before you change the frequency. For example, It is much better to water twice a week for 1 hour, than four times per week for 30 minutes. Keep in mind that different heads use differing amounts of water. For example, simple pop up heads will put down 2 to 3 times more water than impact or rotor heads that move around. If your simple pop up head zones water for 30 minutes, your rotor head zones should probably water for 90 minutes. A drip zone may require much more time than that.
For more in depth information about how often to water your Boise/Nampa area lawn, check out our youtube video: How often and how much should I water my lawn?
