When is the best time to water the lawn?

[PandaBear]

I heard the contractor said in the morning because water on the plants at night will attract bugs, but I also heard someone that said water at night reduce evaporation.

What's good? The lawn is surrounded by typical garden plants.

 

[J281v8]

My gardener said early morning. Seems to work good.

 

[hemitom]

Early morning, watering at night increase's the the risk of turf fungus and mold

 

[bodeh6]

+1 for Early Morning. At night like previously mentioned mold/fungus.

 

[mikered30]

Just before dawn, helps cut down on evaporation.

 

[wallyuwl]

Just before dawn, or at least early before it gets too hot. At night would be the next option if this isn't possible. Avoid the middle of the day when it is really hot because of evaporation.

 

[StevieC]

All the farmers out here where I live water the lawns in front of their houses in the early morning.

 

[Solo2driver]

+another for early morning. I never thought my lawn would get a fungus, but it did from all of the rain we've been having and the extremely humid air. I found a product that cured it within a few weeks though.

 

[StevieC]

When we cut our grass with the Deere we leave the clippings on the grass. The farmers around taught us this and told us that the nitrogen in the grass clippings get released as they dry up and it helps to keep a better PH balance on the grass to prevent shrooms, fungus and grubs etc. It works and while we enjoy lush green grass free from all these pests we see others spraying expensive additives and fertilizing for no reason.

Thought I would share!

 

[Camu Mahubah]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
I heard the contractor said in the morning because water on the plants at night will attract bugs, but I also heard someone that said water at night reduce evaporation.

What's good? The lawn is surrounded by typical garden plants.


I would like to see a picture of the lawn. Are there random beef cattle interspersed amongst garden gnomes? JK....I worked in the landscaping industry for awhile in Florida everyone watered at night but that seems to have changed with all the recommendations I see here.

If I ever decide to buy a house I want to try that grass you see advertised in magazines. The one that turns your lawn into a golf courseish estate-like paradise!

 

[PandaBear]

Thanks guys, I am currently watering 3 mins per day in the early morning (7:15am). Dad told me it isn't enough as my lawn is a bit brown rather than golf course green, but I don't mind it too much and would rather preserve water instead. I used to water it about 6 mins every other day instead, but that seems to cause some of the plants in pot not to do as well.

This is the picture of the lawn during the rain season, it is a bit dryer now because I don't want to water too much (don't go to the yard as much anyways, so as long as it is alive it's all good to me).

 

[HTSS_TR]

I set the timer to turn on the sprinklers at 4am and 5am for 2 minutes each time.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Maybe the type of grass you have affects it's efficiency in using the water dependent on time. We just went through photosynthesis in Bio and from what I understand some/most grass are c4 . I don't know what implications with regards to watering since we didn't focus on c4 and cam plants, but maybe it could be related.

 

[tonycarguy]

I water mine at 6am. If you water less, it grows slower and that means less mowing, but the grass won't be green like in those gardening magazines.

 

[tonycarguy]

It's better to water less often but for a longer duration each time. You want the top 1/2" of soil to dry out, which helps prevent weed seeds from germinating. I water mine once every 2 or 3 days, but they get a heavy soaking

 

[javacontour]

Long watering and less frequent also encourages the grass to grow deeper roots. This will give the grass an advantage over weeds. I do the same, I try to water every two or three days, or wait to see if rain is in the forecast before deciding to water.

We got rain on Thursday and some on Friday, so I probably won't water again until Monday.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Thanks guys, I am currently watering 3 mins per day in the early morning (7:15am). Dad told me it isn't enough as my lawn is a bit brown rather than golf course green, but I don't mind it too much and would rather preserve water instead. I used to water it about 6 mins every other day instead, but that seems to cause some of the plants in pot not to do as well.

This is the picture of the lawn during the rain season, it is a bit dryer now because I don't want to water too much (don't go to the yard as much anyways, so as long as it is alive it's all good to me).


You'd probably be better off watering more like 15 minutes every couple of days - that will soak into the soil and promote deeper root growth. 3 minutes a day, even in the morning, won't allow deep water penetration and much of it will still evaporate. At least that's what I've read, and it's helped my grass. I go 20 minutes 3 times a week. Even in our arid to desert climate, it works better for my lawn then watering everyday for 10 minutes.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
Long watering and less frequent also encourages the grass to grow deeper roots. This will give the grass an advantage over weeds. I do the same, I try to water every two or three days, or wait to see if rain is in the forecast before deciding to water.

We got rain on Thursday and some on Friday, so I probably won't water again until Monday.


I need to read the entire thread before making a post!

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT

You'd probably be better off watering more like 15 minutes every couple of days - that will soak into the soil and promote deeper root growth. 3 minutes a day, even in the morning, won't allow deep water penetration and much of it will still evaporate. At least that's what I've read, and it's helped my grass. I go 20 minutes 3 times a week. Even in our arid to desert climate, it works better for my lawn then watering everyday for 10 minutes.


+1

Also keep it trimmed as short as possible to promote a strong root system. This will encourage deeper roots and will help to keep it greener with less water as well.

I would also set your sprinkler to 3-4am so that it has a lot of time to soak in before the sun comes up.

Also if you can filter the water with a carbon based filter to remove the chlorine from municipal water this will help it stay even greener as chlorine burns the grass when exposed to UV from the sun.

Just a thought!

 

[javacontour]

Actually, you don't want to cut it short. Cutting it short will reduce the shade the ground gets. You want your grass to be 3-4" tall in the summer. The tall grass will actually promote deeper roots as it has to go deeper to support the taller grass.

You get the added benefit of more shade for your soil. This reduces evaporation as well as makes it more difficult for weeds to emerge.