Try the following tips for less water usage and a healthier lawn this summer:
1. Mow at the upper end of the appropriate mowing height range for your species of turfgrass.
Taller Grass = Deeper Roots. Deeper roots can improve overall water infiltration and access to water deeper in the soil.
2. Follow the 1/3 Rule. Mow frequently enough to avoid removing more than 1/3 of the total turfgrass mowing height at one time.
Scalped grass is stressed grass.
Stressed grass will be less tolerant to heat and drought, and more vulnerable to other pests or fungal pathogens.
3. Water deeply and infrequently. Try to water to a depth of approximately 6″ each time you water. Watering this way encourages deeper, denser root growth. Again, this can improve infiltration and access to water deeper in the soil.
Turfgrass can typically be maintained by irrigating 1-2x per week to provide between 1″ and 1.5″ of total water during summer months. Be sure to adjust based on natural precipitation.
4. Wait to water when visual wilt is occurring, and do so late at night or early in the morning. Watering late at night or early in the morning will reduce evaporative losses, improve water-use efficiency, and reduce length of overall leaf wetness, which reduces disease potential.
5. Use the Cycle Soak Method.
Because sprinkler precipitation rates usually exceed soil infiltration rates, cycle soaking improves soil water infiltration and reduces runoff by “pulsing” water onto the lawn in small amounts over several hours.
resources: aggieturf.tamu.edu
wateruniversity.tamu.edu