Basic Lawn Care Tips

Water in late evening or early morning. Cool, humid, low-wind conditions distribute water evenly and reduce loss to evaporation. Ideal conditions usually occur between 10pm and midnight, or between 8am and 9am.[1]

• Some local water departments forbid night watering to prevent waste from sprinklers left on all night.

Check your lawn's water needs. Your watering schedule should be based on grass species, lawn health, heat, and soil conditions. Cool season grasses (bluegrass, ryegrass, fescues) generally need 1–1.5 inches (2.5–3.8cm) per week, rising to 2.25 inches (5.7 cm) in hot, dry weather.[2] Drought-resistant warm season grasses (buffalo grass, blue grama) can last for weeks without watering, even in the summer. Once you have a good guess for how much water your lawn needs each week, read the next step to find out how to divide it among watering sessions.[3]

• A local university extension website can teach you how much watering your grass species needs in local weather conditions.

• To track the amount of water you're using, leave cans or other open containers on your lawn.

• Shaded grass usually needs less water, but this may not be true if it's competing with tree and shrub roots.

Look for signs of drying. Don't wait until your lawn is brown before you give it more water. Check for wilting, a change in color (becoming more grey, purple, or blue), and for footprints that stay visible for an hour or more.[7] Letting your lawn reach this state actually increases long term health, but water shortly afterward, before the grass turns brown.[8]

• You can also dig into the soil to see how dry it is. Never water before the top two inches (5cm) of soil have dried out.[9]

• If the lawn dries in a few spots, just water those areas extra.

Water deeply and infrequently.[4] This approach encourages root growth, which increases resistance to drought and disease. Each watering session should moisten the soil down to the depth of the lowest existing roots, which tend to be at least six inches (15cm) for a healthy lawn.[5] The drainage rate varies greatly based on soil. Check the depth of moisture 30–60 minutes after watering, or follow this rough guide: [6]

• Sandy soil drains fast, and may only need 0.5 in. (1.25cm) of water to reach a 6 inch (15cm) depth. The lawn has less time to absorb this water, so water more frequently to make up for it.

• Loamy soil takes roughly 0.75 inch (1.9cm) of water to reach a 6 inch (15cm) depth.

• Dense clay soil drains slowly, and may need 1–1.5 inches (2.5–3.8cm) water to reach 6 inch (15cm) depth.

Let cool season grass stay dormant. Cool seasons grasses typically go dormant in hot weather, turning brown but ready to revive when cool weather returns. It is possible to prevent this with heavy watering, but once it goes dormant, do not try to revive it until hot weather passes. The grass spends a lot of energy on revival, leaving it vulnerable and weak if it revives and goes dormant more than once a year.[10]

• While the grass is dormant in hot water, give it 0.25–0.5 inches (6–12mm) water per week.[11]

Water rarely outside the growing season. Your grass does not need nearly as much water while it is not actively growing, typically late fall to early spring. If weather is dry, you may still need to water once every 4–6 weeks.[12]

• Do not water while the ground is frozen.

• Areas of shallow soil and exposed slopes are more likely to dry. Check south and west facing slopes especially (north and east facing in the southern hemisphere).