Watering question

[Black_Thumb]

Hello, friends. I've read that it's best to water my lawn deeply to encourage deep roots. What is considered "deep" watering? I left my sprinkler in each location for about an hour and then moved it to a new spot. Is that enough or are we talking multiple hours in one spot for "deep" watering?

 

[Chuck]

Hello, friends. I've read that it's best to water my lawn deeply to encourage deep roots. What is considered "deep" watering? I left my sprinkler in each location for about an hour and then moved it to a new spot. Is that enough or are we talking multiple hours in one spot for "deep" watering?

Lawn grass needs at least 1" of water per week. Get some Tuna or cat food cans and place them around the lawn, turn on the sprinkler and time how long it takes to fill up the cans. Then water for that length of time each week.

 

[Black_Thumb]

That's a good idea. Hopefully the fact that my yard is all clay won't hamper my efforts to get the grass to grow.

 

[DirtMechanic]

That's a good idea. Hopefully the fact that my yard is all clay won't hamper my efforts to get the grass to grow.

My clay gets weeds to grow extremely well so I would not think grass will be a problem at all!

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

That's a good guidline, but it depends on you soil and weather conditions. Once a day (or less) for longer around sunrise is better than twice a day from less time. You are trying to get the roots to grow down nice and deep and healthy, hence the term "deep watering".

 

[mac1911]

1” per week
I dont water except the high travel area around the house/deck/pool

1” of rain a week is a good amount of water 600 gallons/1000sqft ? Or so
Im sure someone has the actual numbers.
I have been planting drought tolerant varieties over the years in hopes they stretch those roots naturally.
I have 18k sqft of total grass im not running 10k+ gallons a week

 

[YumYum]

1,000 ft2 x 1" deep is 83.33 ft3 which equals 623.35 gallons of water.

 

[Black_Thumb]

My yard is 46,000 sq. ft., most of which is clay. Fortunately, we do get a goodly amount of rain here, but sometimes it is many days or weeks between rainfalls. So, that means I have to augment to some degree, but it's proving to be difficult to water my entire yard by dragging a hose and sprinkler all over the place. LOL It would be a monumental task to put in in-ground sprinklers and really wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, given the amount of rainfall we get here.

The grass does seem to do quite well with the amount of moisture it gets, but I need to get rid of the weeds and overseed in order to strengthen it more. Now that summer is drawing near, I'm seeing new types of weeds show up. I have the dandelions almost under control. Now it's the darn clover, wild violets, and a few other unknowns.

 

[mac1911]

My yard is 46,000 sq. ft., most of which is clay. Fortunately, we do get a goodly amount of rain here, but sometimes it is many days or weeks between rainfalls. So, that means I have to augment to some degree, but it's proving to be difficult to water my entire yard by dragging a hose and sprinkler all over the place. LOL It would be a monumental task to put in in-ground sprinklers and really wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, given the amount of rainfall we get here.

The grass does seem to do quite well with the amount of moisture it gets, but I need to get rid of the weeds and overseed in order to strengthen it more. Now that summer is drawing near, I'm seeing new types of weeds show up. I have the dandelions almost under control. Now it's the darn clover, wild violets, and a few other unknowns.

Have you put down a pre emergent ?
If you have not already done so get a Soil Test done.
Take the soil samples then apply a Fertilizer with pre emergent weed control soon to keep the summer weeds in check.
Clover and Violet are not to bad and unless they are in high traffic area not really a problem
Like you I have no irrigation and I only water the small areas around my house that see traffic. Only .25” of rain here in 16 days and nothing in sight. My grass might go dormant much sooner.
Below is what my lawn can look like with long rainless hot summers , the green on the right is protected by the shadows if the trees. It comes back pretty good every year. I over seed with drought tolerant blends every few years.
The 2 pic is how it looks with normal rain and feeding

 

[Black_Thumb]

Have you put down a pre emergent ?

Unfortunately, I didn't know to do that as I didn't start actually researching what I could do for my lawn until a couple months back. I did put down some Weed-n-Feed, and that is having some effect on certain things, but it didn't do anything against the wild violets, clover, or any of the other nasties growing now. I wasn't sure if it was too late to put down a pre-emergent since everything is already growing.

 

[mac1911]

Unfortunately, I didn't know to do that as I didn't start actually researching what I could do for my lawn until a couple months back. I did put down some Weed-n-Feed, and that is having some effect on certain things, but it didn't do anything against the wild violets, clover, or any of the other nasties growing now. I wasn't sure if it was too late to put down a pre-emergent since everything is already growing.

Any pre emerg now will help with whats to come.
Some “weed and Feed” need to be watered in or needs to be wet? Check instructions
You can always find a selective weed killers and spot treat ?
Take it one step at a time

 

[Black_Thumb]

Some “weed and Feed” need to be watered in or needs to be wet?

Yes, the weed and feed has instructions to apply in the early morning when there is dew on the grass (or after running sprinklers, I would assume). I put it down when the grass was soaked with morning dew. It's been about six weeks since the first application. I need to see if I can do a second round, or if I should opt for just the regular Turf Builder. I honestly haven't compared ingredients side by side.

 

[mac1911]

Yes, the weed and feed has instructions to apply in the early morning when there is dew on the grass (or after running sprinklers, I would assume). I put it down when the grass was soaked with morning dew. It's been about six weeks since the first application. I need to see if I can do a second round, or if I should opt for just the regular Turf Builder. I honestly haven't compared ingredients side by side.

Have you ever done a soil sample?
Seems all these years all I have been doing with my line application was maintaining a low PH. Soil sample and corrected that issue.
Weed killer, I applied weed killer and directions said wait 14 days and check
At day 13 it was almost like I did not apply anything ….then day 15,16,17 its like a switch was hit and the weeds turned and died.

 

[Black_Thumb]

Have you ever done a soil sample?

We haven't had a soil sample test done yet. I forgot to do that. I really need to do that.

The weed killer has been in the soil for six weeks and no significant changes yet. I'm wondering if the crap did anything at all. There have been minor indications of some weeds along the edge of my driveway dying but not in the yard itself. It's a bit frustrating after all the money I spent to apply it to my entire yard.

 

[mac1911]

We haven't had a soil sample test done yet. I forgot to do that. I really need to do that.

The weed killer has been in the soil for six weeks and no significant changes yet. I'm wondering if the crap did anything at all. There have been minor indications of some weeds along the edge of my driveway dying but not in the yard itself. It's a bit frustrating after all the money I spent to apply it to my entire yard.

Might be time to ID the weeds better and see if what you used was correct.
Im fortunate enough to have a great source of help. I can bring a sample of the plant in a zip lock bag to a Nice Women down at one of the garden centers. Shes usually spot on on IDing the plant. I also use a app , PlantNet so far pretty good. Took me a bit to figure out how to get good pictures.

What did you use for product?
How much grass and how much product did you put down?

Yes get that soil sample done.