Grass will need less water when in humid, cool and less windy conditions. Here are five tips that will help you become a smarter, ecology-minded lawn waterer in Fort Worth and surrounding suburbs. Less and sometimes no water during Winter, once and sometimes twice a week during Fall or Spring, and 2 to 3 times per week during Summer for most lawns in most yards, and on lawns which have not been trained to be naturally drought tolerant. If you are certain that you’re watering your grass the right amount, but your lawn is still not looking its best, your problem could be the time of day you’re watering or how often you set your sprinklers to run. You can generalize, but the best way to know for sure is to turn on the water for your regularly scheduled watering, grab a shovel and dig up the topsoil after about 15 minutes. Most grass types need just an inch of water per week, according to … Know the Rules. Looking at what appears to be a dying lawn, you may realize you’re not completely sure how to keep your lawn green in the summer heat. I increase the water time to about 45-50 minutes when this happens. About three weeks after the grass turns green apply fertilizer to … Taller grass tends to have deeper roots, which allows plants to more easily access nutrients and withstand the demands of drought conditions. How often should I water my lawn with a sprinkler system. Set the sprinkler for 30 minutes. Depending on the grass type, the amount of water needed per week generally ranges from half an inch to 1 inch. This usually translates into one to two inches of watering once or twice a week. For the same reason, the evening is the worst time to water the lawn. In most Texas lawns, watering between a half-inch to a full inch of water each week can keep grass species that are suited for our climate healthy even in high temperatures. ft. of lawn area. A few other factors to consider in proper lawn maintenance include thatch management, aeration and your landscape design. Water in the early morning, so that you lose less moisture to evaporation, and so that your plants aren’t wet for too long, since that can make them more vulnerable to disease. These products usually also help with chinch bugs. It depends on your climate. Check out our Fort Worth lawn care page. Some of the damage you see on your lawn during the summer months may be because of pests and disease and not stress related to the heat, and weeds can also appear during this time of year. We usually have water restrictions by the time July roles around, so we are down to one day a week watering. The amount of fertilizer you will need is going to vary, depending on the level of maintenance you want to put in. Watering in the early morning is best because the grass has all day to dry out before night falls. Mowing is the best cultural practice we have for controlling weeds and increasing the density of our lawns. First of all—what is thatch? You’ll want to make sure you remove soil and not create holes on your lawn which create more compacted spots. Measure the depth of water in each can, and determine the average depth by adding the total from each can and dividing that number by five (the number of cans). Common Representation: Best Time to Water Lawn in Hot Weather. This top layer of your turf is usually composed of dead leaves, roots and grass. Continue mowing and watering as needed. September 15-October 15 Fertilize bermudagrass, St. Augustine, Zoysia, and Buffalograss with a 3-1-2 or 4-1-2 ratio fertilizer at the rate of 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1000 sq. Thatch is the layer of intermingled dead and living organic matter that accumulates between the surface of the soil and the grass. Your work schedule may become crucial. Experienced technicians have a deep understanding of local conditions, water requirements, grass types, soil quality and other conditions that can make it harder to keep your landscape healthy during the often unforgiving Texas summers. As we have already mentioned, raise your mower height to avoid putting an added stress on your lawn. You can prevent the excess build-up of thatch by raking your lawn or by purchasing or renting a dethatcher machine. Cooler temperatures and calm breezes help keep evaporation to a … Different types of grass require different amounts of fertilizer, water and maintenance. “Automatic sprinklers offer convenience but must be managed to avoid water waste.”. Drought-stressed grass can look dull, with a bluish tint. Homeowners find that outdoor areas do better during the summer months if they are watered only a few times a week, with longer watering cycles. While some thatch on your lawn is beneficial in aiding its growth, if you have too much thatch, food and water cannot penetrate to the roots of your grass. If you don’t relish the idea of spending time out in the summer heat on your lawn, you aren’t alone. Augustine, Zoysia, Bermuda grass and Buffalo grass—to between two and three inches tall during the hottest times of the year. A lawn that is properly watered can compete aggressively with weeds and avoid stress that contributes to lawn diseases. Ex) or imidacloprid (Bayer Advanced Season Long Grub Control). As you might expect, low maintenance landscapes demand the least of a homeowner, providing basic protection from weeds and helping maintain a dense layer of grass. Instead of lawns, many homeowners choose xeriscape garden beds. Now that you know more about how to water and mow during the summer, let’s discuss a lawn maintenance schedule for this time of year. Frisco has been making irrigation recommendations for three years based on a system tested by the Texas … This will give your friends and family somewhere to step without stomping on your grass. Water pressure tends to be good, moisture is applied more evenly to your plants and grass and there is less evaporation when compared to the middle of the day. “Drip irrigation systems take longer to wet the soil but lose very little water to evaporation,” the board says. Water pressure tends to be good, moisture is applied more evenly to your plants and grass and there is less evaporation when compared to the middle of the day. It can be at 6 am or 8 am. A great resource for homeowners is the Water My Yard online tool, which uses real-time data gathered across Texas to help inform your sprinkler runtimes. The optimum time to water a lawn will always be in the morning between the hours of 6 and 10 in the spring. In Fort Worth alone, outdoor watering accounted for an average 37 percent of all water used by single-family households from 2004 to 2011. So how is a Texan supposed to keep their lawn water properly? Some grass species do well with only low to moderate amounts of applied nitrogen. In some lawns, that first 15 minutes may be enough. The best time to water your lawn is from 4-6 am. In the absence of soil test information, apply a fertilizer with a 3-1-2 or 2-1-1 ratio at a rate equivalent to 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. You’ll need to water newer, less established grass and plants more frequently. If you’re really starting to worry about your lawn, reach out to a professional for a consultation. Call First Response Lawn Care today if you have questions about aerating your lawn. To figure out how long you should set your sprinkler to achieve a 6-inch depth, arrange five open-top shallow cans (like those used for tuna or cat food) randomly spaced within the area covered by the sprinkler, the Texas Water Development Board. Our technicians are trained to aerate at the optimum time for your soil conditions, giving you the best-looking lawn … These are warm humid areas and warm arid areas. Set the sprinkler for 30 minutes. Allow leaf clippings to remain on the lawn to help your landscape retain moisture. 4 Fall Lawn Care Tips for Fort Worth, TX Homeowners, The 4 Most Common Grass Types in Fort Worth, TX, Dethatching Your Lawn — a Comprehensive Guide, ‘Get Off My Lawn!’ How a Catchphrase Was Born and Grumpily Lives on, 2021’s Best and Worst States for Living Off the Grid, 10 Walkway Ideas for Your Yard and Garden, 14 Treehouse Ideas for Your Backyard Playhouse. It may seem like after you miss one day of watering, all of a sudden there are brown spots everywhere. The best time to water lawns is in the early morning between 4 AM and 9 AM. In Houston, Texas, recommended best watering times for lawn grass are during the wee hours of the morning. Just because you’re breaking out the jackets and boots doesn’t mean it’s time to stop watering your lawn. When the grass is actively growing, you can aerate your lawn with a specialized machine, or hire someone to do it for you. The type of treatment is highly dependent on the type of weed you have in your yard, so proper identification is key to a successful outcome. Measure the depth of water in each can, and determine the average depth by adding the total from each can and dividing that number by five (the number of cans). Follow this blog to stay tuned with what you need to keep your lawn in tip-top shape year-round. It takes a lot less water to keep a lawn green than most people think. Watering in the cool morning will reduce the amount of evaporation that occurs while you’re watering, so your grass can soak up more water in less time. They have timers you can set, so you don't have to be an early riser to get the grass watered at the right time. Lawns should be watered … You can mow warm-season grasses—St. Over time, your soil can become compacted, which keeps air, food and water from absorbing down into a plant’s root system. As we have discussed previously, the early morning is the best time to water your yard. The best time to water all landscape plant material is early morning or late evening when winds are calmer and temperatures are lower, resulting in less water loss to evaporation. Get easy-to-understand, actionable yard tips that will give you the greenest grass on the block. During that time, the heat of the day can evaporate 30-50% of your water. As seen in Forbes, CNBC and USA Today, LawnStarter lets makes it easy to schedule service with a local lawn care professional. During the summer months in North Texas, watering your lawn at night is sometimes a good idea. It allows the grass to soak up more water. Sharpen your mower blades once a month in advance of the growing season. Adding too much fertilizer, especially during the summer months, can burn your lawn and encourage growth at the most difficult time of year for plants to become established. Once you start recognizing the first signs of summer, it’s time to start applying fertilizer. So, when is the best time to water lawns? The way you spend your time in your yard during the summer won’t vary significantly from month to month. If you are wondering whether damage on your lawn is drought stress or chinch bugs, try hand watering these spots for a few days. These plugs disappear in a short period of time when left on the surface of the lawn. You can let your turf grow as much as 50% higher in the shade. For example, if your Bermudagrass lawn needs one inch of water weekly, and your sprinkler’s water output is 1½ inches per hour, you would need to … St. Augustine grass will require more water than bermuda, buffalo and zoysia grasses. LAWNS: Creating a deep root system is probably the single-most important goal during hot weather. of the leaf tissue at any one time (p. 3) Mow if necessary to prevent winter annual weeds from flowering (p. 6) Irrigation Turn off irrigation during winter months when temperatures are cool and the lawn is not actively growing (dormant) (p. 4) Conduct an irrigation audit before turning on irrigation during the spring and summer (p. 4) Temperature. Watering in the morning (before 10 a.m.) is the best time for your lawn; it’s cooler and winds tend to be calmer so water can soak into the soil and be absorbed by the grass roots before it can evaporate. At ABC Home & Commercial Services, we can set up a maintenance schedule that keeps your lawn healthy—not just through the summer, but year-round. In the heat of a Texas summer, it can feel like keeping your grass green is a full-time job—which makes sense when you learn that even warm season species prefer temperatures in the 70s. Also, ensure that your mower blades are sharp, so that you are cutting and not tearing your grass, as this can add extra stress to your plants at an already challenging time of year. Resist the urge to overwater, since that can make your plants more vulnerable to pest damage and disease and your landscape can become more dependent on more water. To figure out how long you should set your sprinkler to achieve a 6-inch depth, arrange five open-top shallow cans (like those used for tuna or cat food) randomly spaced within the area covered by the sprinkler, the Texas Water Development Board says. For best results, water your lawn thoroughly three times a week if you do not get significant rainfall. As you might suspect, the most important thing you can do for your lawn during the hottest times of the year is to water. Adjust your watering schedule from the spring months to increase the amount of moisture delivered to your turf, based on the rainfall in your area and the condition of your grass. After you have aerated high-traffic areas, top dress your grass with compost and water it so that air flow is maintained and the soil quality enhanced. Warm-season grasses typically do best with the following fertilization schedule: If things start to look drab and brown, it can be tempting to overfertilize your lawn. Why is the early morning the best time for watering, you ask? Every lawn is different, and sometimes it takes a professional’s help to keep your grass looking its best during the hot Texas summer. This lawn sleuthing will provide the amount of water required to moisten the soil to a certain depth in half an hour. Cooler regions with higher rainfall will obviously not need as much lawn watering. Proper drainage will help prevent summer lawn diseases, so make sure water does not collect in certain parts of your yard. It’s important to give leaf surfaces time to dry before nightfall to deter disease and decay. Rather than sticking to an established schedule, to keep your yard looking its best and conserve water you can look at your lawn to determine when you need to water next. While watering should be the biggest focus of your summer lawn maintenance, there are other things you also need to keep up with. You may want to try hand watering in particularly hot areas, such as near sidewalks. Pay Attention to Frequency. LawnStarter is a startup making lawn care easy affordable and reliable. 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