Watering Tips

How long should I run each zone for?
What time of day should I water?
How do I know if I’ve watered long enough?
Can I tell the difference between a fungus and a dry spot?
Will water alone keep my lawn green?

How long should I run each zone for?

Each time you water, you want to saturate the ground thoroughly without over-watering and creating run- off. It is best to water for extended periods of time, less frequently. This will allow the water penetrate deeply into the soil and promote deep root growth. With a deep root system, your lawn will be healthier and more drought tolerant. To accomplish this you need to consider the type of soil in your yard. Different soils soak up water at different rates. You need to be able to determine how fast your soil absorbs water. If you water too much at one time, the excess will run off into the street or your neighbor’s yard. Clay soils, for example, are slow to absorb water while sand absorbs very quickly. Soil type is very important because it most affects the way you water.

When setting the number of minutes to water each zone, keep in mind

what you are trying to accomplish. We recommend, for every watering cycle, that you water spray zones (heads that do not rotate) for 10-15 minutes at a time, part circle rotor zones (rotate less than 360 degrees) 25-35 minutes and full circle rotor zones (all heads on zone rotate 360 degrees) about 60 minutes. For zones that have one full circle head, treat it like a part circle rotor zone. These are very general times and each yard can be watered differently. You may find that your lawn can handle more water at one time, which is better. If this is the case, then increase the zone times until you find the lawn’s saturation point. On the opposite side, you may find that it is too much water. Remember, you don’t have to put all of the water down at the same time. If your lawn needs time to soak up the water, you can schedule the timer to repeat a watering later in the same day (ex. 4am and again at 7am). Each watering will be half of the total desired time. Yards that are heavily sloped should be treated in special way as well. If water is applied too quickly, it will run-off before it can soak into the ground. To accommodate these conditions, each zone should run for a short period of time (about one third of the total time desired) and be repeated three times, one after another. This will give the water time to percolate into the soil between waterings. Each lawn is different and can have multiple conditions (flat areas, shade, hills, clay soil, sandy soil etc.). The idea is to find a happy medium so that every area gets what it needs.

What time of day should I water?

We recommend that you water your lawn early

in the morning (3am- 8am) because it is the time of day with the coolest temperatures, the least amount of wind and no direct sunlight. Also, it reduces the risk of fungus problems. Once the lawn is watered, the sun will evaporate any remaining water. If you water at night, the water will lay on the grass for several hours creating fungus conditions. The length of watering (all zone times added together) may cause problems with your daily water usage. Brushing your teeth or flushing a toilet will not affect the system long enough to make a difference. However, taking a shower, running the washing machine or dishwasher can have an affect because of the extended time that the water is being used. This will lessen the spray of the sprinklers and affect the coverage of the lawn. Those of you with several zones (9 or more) will need to get more creative with your watering schedule because of long watering times. You may decide to water half of your yard early in the morning and half later in the morning. After you have programmed the zone run times, you need to add up the total amount of minutes the system will water. Once you have done this, it is time to figure out when you want the system to start watering. The biggest factors are township restrictions and personal water use in the morning. Some areas have high water pressure (above 70 PSI) and the affects on the system are small. Taking these factors into account, you have to decide how you want to program the start time(s). A simple way is to subtract the total run time from when you want the system to stop (ex: 2hrs. 45min. of run time subtracted from 7am is a start time of 4:15am). If you do not want the system to run while you are showering, you can water all zones half of the desired time before and half of the time after (ex: 3:30am to 5:00am and again at 6:00am to 7:30am for a system with a 3 hr. watering time). Cut the zone times in half and have two start times, number one at 3:30am and number two at 6:00am. Try to stick to the time of day suggested as close as possible because it gives you the best chance for a healthy lawn.

How do I know if I’ve watered long enough?

To determine if enough water was put down, a good way to find out is to walk across your lawn. The ground should be firm, not too soft and not too hard. If the ground is really soft and mushy with bubbles coming up around your foot, then it is too much. If it is not enough it is harder to tell. The lawn will give you warning signs when it is thirsty. You may have noticed in the past that the grass was really green along the edge of a sidewalk or driveway and the rest of the grass wasn't as green or as tall. This happens because water will run along the edge of the concrete when you wash a car, use your sprinklers or when water runs off from your neighbors house. The same thing happens around the sprinkler heads in the middle of your lawn. These areas are getting more water than the rest of your lawn. If you notice the lawn not needing to be cut as often as it used to, then it usually means that the lawn is thirsty. Grass under stress will not grow as fast as healthy grass or sometimes it will stop growing altogether. When you walk across the lawn, the blades of grass will hold your footprints and not spring back. These things will happen while your lawn is still green. If these warning signs persist and you do not increase your watering, your lawn will quickly turn brown. A lot of customers will tell us that their yard was green and then all of the sudden it turned brown. A healthy lawn can be cut as often as every five days. Once a lawn turns brown, it is very difficult to get the lawn back to green without the help of Mother Nature (rain and cooler temperatures). A good thing to do is to dig a small hole and scoop up some soil. Test the soil at different depths to see how far the water is percolating (6- 12 inches is good). To test, squeeze the soil in your hand to see if it keeps its shape. If it does, then you have watered correctly. If it doesn’t, then there is not enough moisture to hold it together.

Can I tell the difference between a fungus and a dry spot?

You must keep an eye out for fungus related problems. A common mistake is to assume a brown spot is a dry spot. If you add more water to the problem, you are only making it worse. Fungus needs water to create the conditions it needs to thrive. The quicker a fungus is detected, the easier it is to rid your lawn of the problem.

The easiest way to determine if a spot is dry is to test the soil for moisture. Dry soil will be hard and unable to hold shape. If the area is dry, test your sprinklers to see if all the heads are operating and adjusted properly. Sometimes plants will grow over a head and block the spray.

If water is not the issue, the spot can be created by fertilizer burn, dog urine, motor oil, gasoline and of course fungus. Fertilizer burn and dog urine will create a brown spot surrounded by very green grass. The nitrogen in urine is the same as what is in fertilizer. Oil and gas spills are harder to diagnose but they don’t spread. Fungus will spread and take over a lawn if left untreated. In every case, the lawn will need to be restored or the spot will become weed infested.

Will water alone keep my lawn green?

Water is not the only important part of keeping a green lawn. Fertilizers and lime are also extremely important. Lime your yard twice a year because it will keep your soil from becoming acidic. Every time you fertilize you add acid to the soil and your lawn prefers it to be neutral. The fertilizers strengthen the root system and provide nutrients which keep the grass greener.