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As summer temperatures rise, and as lawn grass begins to wilt, homeowners can save on water costs and ensure a healthy yard by keeping some helpful watering practices in mind, said Mark Brown, Pulaski County extension agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
It’s no secret that homeowner water use rises in late spring and early summer. For example, Central Arkansas Water pumps an average daily amount of 56.6 million gallons. In August, that daily average is 103.3 million gallons.
Of that amount, Brown said that 60 to 70 percent of homeowner water use is for the outdoors during May-August.
With that many more gallons going through the sprinklers, many homeowners are spending more than they need to.
“Homeowners without a sprinkler account pay twice for a gallon of water used for their lawn,” Brown said. “They are billed an additional sewer charge regardless of how they use the water.”
For more information, consumers should contact their water utility, such as Central Arkansas Water.
Brown, who has helped keep the greens healthy on golf courses and for the Arkansas Travelers baseball team, has some tips for getting more out of the water being used for the lawn.
“Lawns should be irrigated only during the coolest part of the day when the wind is not blowing,” Brown said.
The early morning hours are the best time to water your lawn because the temperature and winds are lower, Brown said. Midday irrigation is wasteful because of increased evaporation due to sunlight. Areas receiving full sunlight should be watered between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., which would also help homeowners avoid peak demand times.
Night irrigation should be avoided. Less evaporation encourages diseases, especially when temperatures are below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Let your grass tell you when to water,” Brown said. “There are two tell-tale symptoms of wilting: when grass blades are blue-gray in color, and when turf retains footprints.”
If either symptom appears, it’s time to water, he said.
“When it is determined that water is needed, it is better to water deeply and infrequently. Applying .75 to 1 inch of water will moisten the soil to the depths of the roots,” he said. Deep watering encourages grass roots to grow deeper for water, rendering them less susceptible to drought.
Increasing mower blade heights will allow turf more shade and prevent excess evaporation.
Testing your irrigation system monitors water distribution patterns across your yard, ensuring that areas are not receiving too much or too little water.
“Place 10-20 straight-sided containers of the same size around the entire lawn and run the system for a set amount of time. Measure the amount of water collected in each, and that will indicate the uniformity of the system,” Brown said.
Rain gauges should be used to determine the amount of rainfall and the appropriate need for watering. Inexpensive rain shut-off devices for irrigation systems detect rain and automatically stop sprinklers when it rains.
Avoid over-fertilization, which promotes extra growth during the summer and increases the plant’s need for water.