Most homeowners increase the amount and frequency of watering during summer as part of their summer lawn care routine. Most people don’t realize that improper watering techniques can do more harm than good to their lawns. Therefore, if you have been wondering if your lawn needs more water in the summer, read this guide before you do it all wrong.
Frequency of Summer Lawn Watering
You might be wondering how many times you should water your lawn during the summer. Well, your lawn will need between 1 and 1.5 inches of water each week in the summer. The secret here is to ensure that you water the lawn deeply rather than shallowly every other day.
Lawns should not be watered on a daily basis since this could be damaging to your grass, plants and trees. Daily watering flushes nutrients off the soil and kills microbial activity by replacing air in the ground. It also results in shallow-digging grassroots because they need not dig deep for water. Watering the lawn every day also harms the trees by interfering with the integrity of their root system and results in chronic health issues, such as iron chlorosis.
What Are the Signs of Overwatering
In most cases, overwatering is worse than underwatering. The excess water can prevent vital nutrients from reaching the roots. Thus, it is crucial that you watch for signs of overwatering. These signs include:
- Fungus: If you notice that mushrooms, algae, mold and blight are thriving in your lawn, it is an indicator that you need to slow down on the watering.
- Lawn depressions: If you walk on your lawn and leave marks due to ground sogginess and mushiness, it is an indication that you are overdoing the watering.
- Root rot: This is a common issue associated with too much moisture in the soil. Moreover, excess water in the soil causes shallow growth of the roots since they don’t have to go deep in search of water. This allows the roots to decompose, eventually killing the grass.
Signs of Underwatering
It is easy to harm your grass or turf if you are not giving it as much water as it needs. Some of the most common signs of underwatering include:
- The presence of Ascochyta leaf blight, a stress and heat fungus, is an indicator of an underwatered lawn.
- Patches of yellow and dry grass are also a clear telltale sign of an underwatered lawn.
- Dry, gravelly soil is also an indication that you are watering your lawn infrequently. You need to be wary of such soil since it lacks essential microbial activity. These microbes require moisture to thrive.
Summertime can be a difficult time to water your lawn, but it’s important not to neglect it. Following these tips will help you maintain a healthy lawn throughout summer. If you see signs of overwatering, you should turn watering down a notch, but be sure not to deprive your lawn of sufficient water by checking the above-mentioned signs of underwatering. Not only will it look better, but it will also be healthier and more resistant to pests.