How Often To Maintain Your Irrigation System
Speaking of watering, you rely on your sprinkler system year-round in Texas, and ideally you should get a quarterly irrigation system checkup. At the very least , get an irrigation maintenance check annually in the early spring.
During an irrigation check, a certified irrigation technician will review all components of your system. Most homeowners are not qualified to audit and test sprinkler systems for efficiency and performance, so its best to rely on a pro.
Best Practices For Watering Your Lawn:
Pay Attention To Frequency
Most grass types need just an inch of water per week, according to Southern Methodist University in Dallas. That water can be delivered as 1 inch just once during the week or as half an inch twice during the week, depending on local watering restrictions. Keep in mind that bermuda and zoysia grasses need half as much water as St. Augustine grass.
Read Also: Get Rid Of Hard Water Stains
Aeration And Lawn Care Tips For Your Texas Lawn
Now that you know when and how to aerate a lawn in Texas, here are some tips to ensure a healthy lawn after the aeration process.
- About better lawn care
I have created this site to share my knowledge with do-it-yourself homeowners and also with entrepreneurs interested in starting a lawn care business.My hope is this site will help visitors seperate the good advice from the bad.
ABOUT US
- Legal Information
As an Amazon Associate better-lawn-care.com earns from qualifying purchases. better-lawn-care.com also participates in affiliate programs with ShareASale and other sites. better-lawn-care.com is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies.
Best Time Of The Day To Water Grass In Texas
Lawns will maintain their green look if adequately watered and at the right time. The appropriate time to water your grass in Texas is very early in the morning. Its recommended to set up sprinklers to shower grass from 4 am to 10 am.
This is the time the air is still preventing water from being blown away by the wind in different patterns. Its also the time temperatures arent hot for water to evaporate before it gets absorbed into the ground.
Watering should not be done later hours of the day as this can lead grass from staying damp for long throughout the night. This brings about the growth of unsightly harmful fungus.
You May Like: Automatic Water System For Chickens
A Healthy Lawn Is A Properly Watered Lawn
The WaterMyYard program is a tool to assist you in determining the precise amount of supplemental water that is needed to maintain a healthy lawn. A vibrant green yard might even need less water than you think. If fact, many lawn problems are compounded by over-watering or by applying water at the wrong time.
The Best Time To Seed A Lawn In North Texas
Late September and early October are prime times for planting new grass seed in Flower Mound and Highland Village, TX. By this time, youre less likely to have scorching heat that stresses new plants.
Also, cooler temperatures allow soil to retain moisture better, so your watering efforts will be more long-lasting. Also, early fall seeding gives new turf an opportunity to establish before winter.
You May Like: Difference Between Sparkling Water And Seltzer Water
Choose The Proper Plant Palate
When Spring does come again, fill your lawn/garden with native or adapted plants. These are naturally more cold-resistant and will keep your garden looking lively.
For more up-to-date tips on when to water, be sure to visit WaterMyYard to learn when to water and when to wait. You can also find additional suggestions on how to pick plants for minimal maintenance and year-round curb appeal at Water University.
Recent Posts
Read Also: How To Green Up Your Lawn Quickly
Why Is It Important To Water Your Lawn
All plants need water, but there is such a thing as too much or too little water. Many species of grass commonly used for lawns are susceptible to under or overwatering.
- Underwatering: Without regular watering, grass begins to die. When this happens, your lawn becomes dry, brown and patchy. While rainfall provides water for your grass, it still needs regular watering in warmer months.
- Overwatering: Too much water also is bad for your grass. When the soil becomes waterlogged, the grass becomes susceptible to disease and can rot.
Also Check: Water Parks In New England
Austin And San Antonio
If you live in Austin, San Antonio, Central Texas, or Waco, aerating your lawn in the spring will yield the best results. These regions grow warm-season grasses like Bermuda, Buffalo, St. Augustine, and Zoysia grass, which is why spring aeration is best.
Breaking up the soil and thatch in the spring allows the grass roots to grow faster and deeper throughout the summer. It is recommended to aerate your lawn in April before the ground becomes too dry due to the summer temperatures.
Knowing How To Water Your Lawn
The amount you water your lawn will also tremendously impact its appearance. If you are unclear about how often to water your lawn, please read and follow our Lawn Watering Guide for some great lawn watering tips.
Because you live in the northern region of Texas, you are no stranger to droughts and water shortages. When you are trying to keep your lawn looking beautiful, this can be a tricky obstacle to overcome. Luckily, there are ways that you can work with the water bans, conserve water, and still manage to keep your lawn looking good. In fact, if you are in a quandary about watering your lawn in North Texas, you may be surprised to know that deep, infrequent watering is far better for your lawn than shallow, frequent watering, so drought and watering bans neednt have a negative impact on your lawn at all, if you know what youre doing.
Read Also: Which Water Softener Is Best
Summer Watering Guidelines For Texas Lawns
August 8, 2014 | Blog, Grass, Lawn Care
Many homeowners get nervous when summer rolls around in central Texas because they know the extreme humidity and dry heat can be fatal to their lawns. Keeping your grass properly nourished and watered is essential to helping it stay green well into autumn. Your city or neighborhood may have predetermined watering schedules in place for summer, so be mindful of those as well as you take care of your lawn. The following Texas lawn care tips can help you keep your grass in good shape all summer long.
Water More During Dry Spells
Whether its a drought or an occasional dry spell, it is one of the best times to water your grass to keep I hydrated. Drought can happen at any time and no one can tell how long it will last. Similarly, dry spells could happen at any time too.
If either of these happens, youll have to water the lawn more to keep it in good shape. These are the times when we encourage more watering to keep things in shape. If you have an affordable lawn care cost, it will go a long way in saving you money too.
Don’t Miss: Tankless Water Heater Tax Credit 2022
How Do I Know It Worked
About an hour after watering, push a soil probe into the soil. It will slide easily through wet soil, but will be impossible to push through dry clay. The landscape has been successfully watered when the probe easily slides to a depth of 6 to 8 inches.
Why?Our clay soil has a slow water absorption rate . As a result, running your sprinklers for longer than the soil can absorb leads to runoff and water waste.
The image shown to the right demonstrates how deep, infrequent watering could have a positive outcome for your lawn. For lawns that have not been watered this way in the past, you should gradually work towards building a strong root system. It is not something that happens over night.
Houston And Southeast Texas
Lawns in Houston and southeast Texas should be aerated twice a year, either in the spring or fall. For best results, aeration should be done in April/May, and in October.
The prevalent soil type in this region is clay, which is prone to compaction. And since most lawns have Bermuda or St. Augustine grasses, which are nutrient-greedy, the soil compaction prevents nutrients, water, and air from reaching the soil.
Aerating your lawn twice a year ensures that the soil receives the maximum amount of nutrients for a healthy lawn all year.
You May Like: Water Spots On Windows Won’t Come Off
What About Watering Overnight
With falling temperatures, every night, dew begins to condense on every available surface. Adding to the condensation of dew by watering in the evening or overnight can cause water to cling to plant surfaces, in far too much volume for the plant to absorb before morning. This can create a habitat specially made for disease, fungus, and pests. Too much water, at the wrong time, could be a death sentence for your beautiful lawn.
Summer Lawn Care Watering Tips For Texans
One thing that can be quite difficult for many Texans is learning how to adequately water their lawn in the summertime. Healthy lawn care and proper maintenance are hard enough. But, its especially difficult during those prolonged days of a heatwave, when the temperatures are at triple digits. On top of that, theres that period when the city is in a drought and your community water district places watering restrictions on the whole neighborhood!
Regardless of all that, our plants, trees, lawn, and flowers still need to have extra watering to stay healthy. So what do you do? Below, the lawn care experts of Archer Services provide basic tips to help you discover ways to save water when necessary, while also adequately watering your Texas landscape. After all, we know how important it is to keep your lawn and outdoor foliage healthy and vibrant no matter the temperature.
Don’t Miss: Is There Fluoride In Bottled Water
When To Plant Bermuda Grass
In Texas, when to plant bermuda grass depends on the temperature of the soil. Bermuda grass should be planted when soil temperatures are consistently warmer this happens when both daytime and nighttime temperatures are between 70 and 95 degrees. In most parts of Texas, this happens early in the year, often before spring actually arrives according to the calendar. You can plant bermuda grass starting in late February or March to grow a thriving lawn.
Bermuda grass grows quickly and well from seeds, sod, plugs or sprigs. This is one of the qualities of this type of grass that makes it so versatile. Of course, there are pros and cons associated with each method. Which one you choose just depends on your particular yard and needs.
Late Evening: If You Have To Water Your Lawn Late In The Evening Make Sure To Do It On A Cool Night
Watering your lawn late in the evening is better than watering it during the day. If you water your lawn during the day, the sun will evaporate most of the water before it has a chance to soak into the ground. If you water your lawn late in the evening, the temperature will be cooler, and less of the water will evaporate.
Recommended Reading: Intex Kool Splash Water Slide
When To Aerate A Lawn In Texas By Region
Texas is the second-largest state in the United States, so it makes sense that different regions will have different climates and soil types. The best time to aerate your lawn in Texas will, therefore, depend on your location, soil type, and grass type.
Here is a quick guide to help you know when you should aerate your lawn, depending on the region in which you live.
More Reasons To Avoid Overwatering
In addition to being generally unnecessary, there are other hazards involved in overwatering your lawn. In doing so, you may cause incidental runoff that can strip your topsoil of nutrients, as well as pesticides and fertilizers that have recently been applied. Its good to irrigate your lawn shortly after treating it, but the idea is to provide enough moisture to help it soak in.
Waterlogging your lawn can also do the opposite. An over-saturated yard can lead to treatments and nutrients soaking further into the ground, below the topsoil where your grasss root system dwells.
Additionally, excessive moisture can invite all manner of uninvited guests. Some lawn diseases thrive in consistently damp environments, and many insects use standing water as a nursery for their eggs.
Read Also: Automatic Water Bowls For Dogs
Lawn Watering In Central Texas
Understanding the water needs of our lawns will ensure greater success with maintaining a healthy lawn. A lawn that is properly watered can compete aggressively with weeds and avoid stress that contributes to lawn diseases.
LAWNS: Creating a deep root system is probably the single-most important goal during hot weather. Lawns should be watered to a depth of 6 inches during each irrigation. To calculate the length of time to run irrigation, collect several empty tuna fish cans or cat food cans and set them randomly around the yard. Run the irrigation for the length of time you are used to running it. Check the amounts of water collected in the cans and calculate the average amount. Next, dig down in the soil to see to what depth the water reached. Now you can calculate any adjustment that might be needed in water time. Lets say you collected an average of ½ inch of water in the cans in a 15 minute time period, and the water penetrated the soil to a depth of 3 inches. You can now calculate that it would take approximately 30 minutes, or 1 inch of water to penetrate to a depth of 6 inches. Sloped yards may need this amount applied in two time periods, an hour or so apart, in order to slow down run-off on the slope. Soil depth and type plays a roll in water percolation rate.
Last, but not least, try to observe your irrigation system while it is runningthe reason for that brown grass may become obvious!
What Month Should I Water My Lawn In Texas
Late April to early May: Establish an irrigation program for your lawn. You need an inch a week and its best to split that up into two half inch applications. This watering schedule will continue through summer and into late fall. Start monitoring lawns now for chinch bugs.
When should I run my sprinklers?
Opening your sprinkler system for the season will depend on the weather conditions and your individual watering needs. As a general rule, the system should not be opened until the threat of frost is passed. If you are an early planter, we recommend waiting to open your system until after April 15.
When is the best time of day to water grass?
The best time of day to water grass is in the early morning, but if its impossible to water in the early morning, its better to water it at some point during the day than not at all. Watering Often Enough
When to start watering your lawn in Texas?
The truth is, homeowners in Texas and other southern states know that temperatures can start inching up in April or May, depending on the year. Because of this, many people wonder when and how to adjust their lawn watering schedule to ensure that grass and plants survive our dry and hot summer months.
How often should I water my lawn per week?
How often to water Bermuda grass in Texas?
You May Like: Water Filtration Systems Whole House
How To Smoke Beef Jerky