Previous Timely Tips

Drip, drip, drip... aka, Timely Tips

When is it time to water?

It may sound pretty simple, but how do you know when it's time to water the lawn?
There are a couple of ways.

One way is to make tracks on the lawn.

  • Start by walking through the lawn, turning around and looking back at your steps.
  • If you can see footprints, the lawn is probably just fine.
  •  If you return to this area a few minutes later and can still see the footprints, then the grass blades are lacking sufficient moisture to stand up straight; thus the lawn needs water.

A second method is to probe the soil.

  • Push a screwdriver, piece of re-bar or electrical conduit, a trowel or cut-off golf club into the lawn.
  • If it is difficult to insert, then the lawn is probably dry and needs water.
  • If it slides in easily, then mark your calendar to water in a couple of days. By the way, this second method works great for houseplants, too.

The best approach is to use the two methods together to determine the need for watering. After you try each procedure a couple of times, you'll learn when to water and when to wait.


 

Drip, drip, drip... aka, Timely Tips

Don't buy a bargain hose....

As with fertilizer, you get what you pay for. A visit to the hardware store or garden center will reveal that there are all sorts of hoses, each with a different degree of durability and longevity. In general, the more you pay for a hose, the better it is in terms of quality.

For lawn watering, purchase a 5/8ths or 3/4 inch diameter hose. Half inch is simply not enough to water in a timely fashion. Look for hoses that are made of several layers of material -- a thin inner core, netting and thick outer core. Plastic and rubber hoses are commonly offered for sale; there isn't much difference between the two.


 

Drip, drip, drip...Timely Tips for summer months

Watering while on vacation

So, summer is finally here. Yeah, yeah, it doesn't officially start until June 21, but the kids are out of school, they're filling the neighborhood pool and you're planning your summer vacation. Speaking of summer vacation, when you're done booking your flights and rental car, make some arrangements for your yard and garden. Yep, care of your landscape plants is part of the vacation package. You wouldn't leave town and let your fish and cat go unattended, so why not plan for the care of your plants?

The type of arrangements you make depends on the length of time that you're going to be gone.

  • If you are out of town for a week or more, then ask a friend or relative to stop by your place every other day and water the lawn, mow the grass, water the patio planters and houseplants, fill the bird feeder and clean out the bird bath.
  • If you're gone less than a week, then this is not as imposing as if you're touring Europe with the Rolling Stones.
  • If your trek is only overnight or for a couple of days, then move all of the house plants to the bathtub and water them well, mow the lawn, and water all of your plants and don't bother with asking for assistance.

A timer on your hose bib and an automatic lawn sprinkler system make the watering easier, but you probably still want someone to stop by and make the house look lived in. This tends to cut down on the burglaries, which can be a rude homecoming when you return from your trip to Branson.......


 

Drip, Drip, Drip... aka, Timely Tips

How long to run sprinklers

Operate your sprinklers until the root zone is sufficiently moist. This is largely a timing issue:

  • Run the system until water has percolated downwards into the soil
  • Shut the system off when the bottom parts of the roots are in contact with moist soil
  • Running the system for a shorter than necessary period of time will wet only the upper part of the root system, and longer than necessary runtimes will only waste water.

 

Information presented within the Lawn & Landscape Irrigation section of this Water Web site has been reviewed by University of Nebraska - Lincoln Educator John Fech.

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