Some people think that scheduling your lawn’s watering will help save time and and the inconvenience of having to stop in the middle of a busy day or weekend to give it a drink. You should never put your lawn on a watering schedule. Your lawn should only be watered when it is needed. A good way to check to see if your lawn needs to be watered is to simply walk across it. If you see your footprints, (if the grass does not recover quickly), then it needs to be watered. The best time to water your lawn is in the early morning hours. When it is cool and the grass can absorb the moisture. Watering in the afternoon only wastes water to evaporation. Also watering in the late evening hours encourages fungus and disease problems.
How Much Water?
Common Bermuda grass requires a minimum of 2″ per week during the hot summer weather. St. Augustine requires 2.5″-3.0″ of water per week during these same conditions. You should always consider the amount of rainfall you may or may not have received during this time. Watering a rain drenched lawn will result in run off and wasted water, which in turn results in higher water bills.
