Watering Your Lawn Correctly: Deep, Infrequent, and Timely

Plants need water like animals need blood—it carries nutrients, sugars, and hormones. Some plants tolerate drought; others need daily water. Here's how to determine when, where, and how much to water.

Drought Tolerance of Common Turfgrasses (Highest to Lowest)

• Bermudagrass
• St. Augustine grass
• Centipedegrass, Fescue, Emerald zoysiagrass, El Toro zoysiagrass
• Meyer zoysiagrass

Turfgrasses need about 1 inch of water weekly to stay green. Some go dormant during drought—turning yellow but recovering when water returns.

Should You Water?

• Consider weather predictions for the next two months
• Assess potential total water bans
• Decide if you can water a small area or must let the whole lawn go dry
• Estimate replacement cost if lawn is severely damaged

Proper Lawn Watering

Nine out of ten landscape problems relate to water—too little, too much, or too frequent. Daily or alternate-day watering harms turf. Light, frequent watering causes shallow roots, limited nutrient access, and drought stress. Deep, infrequent watering stimulates deep roots searching for water as soil dries—stronger, healthier turf.

Ideal watering time: 10 PM to 9 AM. Mid-day watering loses 60% to evaporation or heat-stressed uptake.

• Apply 1–1.5 inches once weekly as fast as possible without runoff
• Overlap coverage between sprinkler stations
• Water turf separately from shrubs, ground covers, and beds
• Avoid windy conditions causing drift
• Rainfall of 1+ inches substitutes for watering

Don't water again until stress signs appear: curling leaf blades, gray-green color, or footprints remaining on turf. To reduce water demand, raise mowing height ½ inch in summer, remove no more than ⅓ of grass height when mowing, and reduce fertilizer during drought—no need to stimulate growth when water is limited.

See also: Turfgrass Water Management