Introduction

Learning to water your lawn properly is the most important thing you can do maintain it in a healthy condition.  Most lawn problems are either directly or indirectly related to poor irrigation practices. Failure to water sufficiently will result in dry areas that if left too long will turn brown and ultimately die. On the other hand, excess water can lead to disease and lawn damage. As you can see, it is important to irrigate your lawn correctly.

The key to proper irrigation starts with your sprinkler system and a concept called "irrigation efficiency". Irrigation efficiency is the measure of how evenly your system applies water. A highly efficient system will apply water very evenly, whereas a less efficient system will apply water unevenly.  No system is 100% perfect, so no matter how hard you try there will always be some portion of your lawn that will get less water then the rest. This area will tend to dry out first and will ultimately dictate your watering time.

The other key to proper irrigation is learning to recognize when your lawn is thirsty. Turfgrass is a very interactive plant material.  It lets you know immediately when it is dry by changing color to a slightly blue-gray. A closer inspection of the turf will reveal that it is somewhat limp as well.  If you step on the dehydrated turf it will not spring back like a properly hydrated plant will.  Finally, if you have a Marathon lawn, you will note that the leaves will curl like a straw in an attempt to minimize water loss.

Once you've learned to recognize the thirsty plant, you'll find that when it appears, it is consistently in the same part of the lawn. This is the area that likely receives the least water due to irrigation inefficiencies and/or receives the most direct sunlight. Use this area as your gauge to adjusting your sprinkler time.

Continue with one of the links below or use the menu above:

Watering Field Grown Sod
Watering Marathon Lite Sod