Quick Tips for Watering Your Lawn and Garden

The following techniques will help you make the most efficient use of water when maintaining your lawn and garden. Good watering practices will help ensure healthy plants, and can also save you money on your water bill.

Most lawns are watered too often but with too little water. It's best to water only when the lawn really needs it, and then to water slowly and deeply. This trains the grass roots down. Frequent shallow watering trains the roots to stay near the surface, making the lawn less able to find moisture during dry periods.

Every lawn's watering needs are unique: they depend on local rainfall, the grass and soil type, and the general health of the lawn. But even in very dry areas, no established home lawn should require daily watering.

Try to water your lawn in a way that imitates a slow, soaking rain, by using trickle irrigation, soaker hoses, or other water-conserving methods. It's also best to water in the early morning, especially during hot summer months, to reduce evaporation.

The best rule is to water only when the lawn begins to wilt from dryness--when the color dulls and footprints stay compressed for more than a few seconds. Here are some rules of thumb to keep in mind when watering your lawn or garden:

• One deep watering is much better than watering several times lightly.
  
  
• Lawns need about 1 inch of water each week. If the weather is very hot, apply an inch of water about every 3 days.
  
  
• Watering to a depth of 4-6 inches encourages deeper, healthier root development. It allows longer periods between watering.
  
  
• To measure the water, put an empty tuna can (or cat food can) on the lawn while watering. Stop watering when the can is full or if you notice water running off the lawn.
  

Water at the Right Time of the Day

• Early morning or night is the best time for watering to reduce evaporation.
  
  
• To help control where your water goes, water when it's not windy.
  

Know Your Soil

Different soil types have different watering needs. You don't need to be a soil scientist to know how to water your soil properly. These tips can help.

• Loosen the soil around plants so it can quickly absorb water and nutrients.
  
  
• Use a 1- to 2-inch protective layer of mulch on the soil surface above the root area. Cultivating and mulching reduce evaporation and soil erosion.
  
  
• Clay soil: Add organic material such as compost or peat moss. Till or spade to help loosen the soil. Since clay soil absorbs water very slowly, water only as fast as the soil absorbs the water.
  
  
• Sandy soil: Add organic material to supplement sandy soil. Otherwise, the water can run through it so quickly that plants won't be able to absorb it.
  
  
• Loam soil: The best kind of soil. It's a combination of sand, silt, and clay. Loam absorbs water readily and stores it for plants to use.
  

Sources:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Department of Agriculture