How Much Should You Water Your Lawn?

Just how long do your sprinklers need to run to keep your lawn green? Is 15 minutes too little? An hour too long? You can use a long-tested system to determine how long to run the sprinkler to get the needed amount of water on your landscape on any given week. Certain factors produce the recommended amount of water. Next, that amount is matched against various sprinkler systems’ output to determine the amount of time it takes to deliver the water needed.

There are a number of ways to save water in your landscape, and there are some very good reasons to do so. Over half of household water—in some cases as much as three-quarters—goes into our landscapes. That means watering your yard efficiently is one of the best and easiest ways to save water. Proper watering will also keep your landscape plants healthy and beautiful through the year. 

There are three parts to sensible landscape watering:
Know how much water your plants need.
Know how much water each part of your watering system applies.
Match your system’s output to your plants’ needs.

How Much Water Do Your Plants Need?

The trick is to give your plants enough water without giving them too much water. Why? Watering too little can lead to wilt from which the plant may not recover, but watering too much is bad for plants because it starves the roots of oxygen.

Depending on the size and type of the plant (tree, shrub, or groundcover), you will need to water to different depths and widths. A large tree needs more water than a small groundcover because it has a larger root zone—the area in which the plant’s feeder roots are concentrated. Your plants will be healthiest if you completely wet the root zone each time you water. 

How Deep Should You Water? 
The 1-2-3 Rule  is an easy way to remember how deep to water:

Water small plants such as groundcovers, cacti, and annuals to a depth of 1 foot
(Grass should be watered to a depth of 10 inches.)

Water medium plants such as shrubs to a depth of 2 feet

Water large plants such as trees to a depth of 3 feet

A good way to test how deep you have watered is to use a soil probe— a sharpened piece of rebar or a very long screwdriver works well. About an hour after watering, push the probe into the soil. It will slide easily through wet soil but will be difficult or impossible to push through dry soil. Water your plants and lawn until you can easily slide the probe to the recommended depth.

Or you can make it simple and call Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance at 623-848-8277

It doesn’t matter to us whether you want lush lawns, desert landscaping or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com
greenskeeperllc@cox.net