Watering Your Lawn Correctly: Amount, Timing, and Drought Strategies

Goal: keep top 6″ of soil slightly moist. Deep, infrequent soakings beat frequent light sprinkles.

General Rules

• 1″/week in one application (summer).
• Spring/early summer: rarely needed—check soil moisture first.
• Best time: morning, before noon—grass dries before night, reducing disease.
• Adjust for rainfall; check Georgia drought rules.

How to Measure Sprinkler Output

1. Place 6 weighted cups in sprinkler pattern.
2. Run 1 hour.
3. Measure depth in each; average = inches/hour.
4. Calculate run time for 1″.

Soil-Specific Tips

• Clay: Slow absorption. Split into 2 sessions 1 hour apart if runoff occurs.
• Sand: Fast absorption, fast drying. Split 1″ into two ½″ irrigations 3 days apart.

Drought Tolerance (Weeks Without Water)

Grass	Weeks
Bermudagrass	8
St. Augustinegrass	6
Seashore Paspalum	6
Centipedegrass, Tall Fescue	4
Zoysiagrass	4

Healthy grass goes dormant (yellow) but recovers. Weak grass dies.

Georgia watering rules (2012)