Know When To Water
The most beneficial time to water your lawn is in the morning. This allows your lawn to absorb the water, go through photosynthesis and grow. Because the lawn requires sunshine for photosynthesis to take place, if you water at night, the lawn can’t effectively make use of the water it is receiving. Watering at night also creates a damp environment where lawn disease can set in. Watering during a hot day usually means that most of the water will evaporate before it can be absorbed.
Get Your Lawn In Training
To build a strong, healthy lawn it is important not to water too frequently. It’s all about training your lawn to develop a deep root system that will see it through the summer months. To get the roots of your lawn searching water at a deep level you need to give it a long soak 2-3 times per week, rather than a short, daily soak that will create a shallow root system.
Avoid Creating Runoff
If water is starting to puddle or run off it’s time to turn off or move the sprinkler to another spot. If it started to run off before you could give it a good soak then turn it off for 15-20 min to allow the water to soak in and then turn the sprinkler back on again.
Water The Lawn, Not The Path
How often do you see someone’s sprinkler busy watering everything but the lawn? Make sure you’re not one of those people, get yourself an adjustable sprinkler suited for your lawn shape and size. It will ensure that you’re not wasting water, money and time waiting for the path to grow.
Lawns Need Air To Breathe
Lawns need oxygen as well as water so it’s important to keep your lawn aerated. The easiest and cheapest method is to push a garden fork into the ground at 15cm intervals over the entire lawn, although for large areas it may be easier to hire a machine. An aerated lawn will be better at absorbing water rather than letting it run off.
Feed Your Lawn
A simple way to feed your lawn is with a fertilizer spray formula.
Mow At The Right Height
Raise the cutting height of your lawnmower during summer to keep your lawn looking its best. The grass won’t dry out as quickly and the roots will be better protected by the longer blades.
Be Flexible With Your Watering
Don’t water your garden when it’s raining, fairly obvious but easy to make this mistake if you have an automatic watering system. Turn it off on days that it is due to rain and be ready to water again if the rain isn’t enough.
Weeds
Controlling weeds “early and often” is better than spraying the whole lawn with a weed killer. This can be done by pulling them manually or better, use a weeding fork. If there are too many weeds for this method, try “painting” weed killer on the affected area, perhaps doing just one section of lawn each day.
Never Water With Hot Water:
It’s not a good idea for the health of your hose to leave water lying in it and water that does get left can get quite warm, even hot enough to scold the blades of grass. Always ensure that you empty your hose after each use but if you forget, make sure you flush the hot water away before commencing watering. Try taking before and after pictures of your lawn so that you can look back at the difference these tips have made. Happy gardening!
