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How Much Should Grass Be Watered?

Many homeowners irrigate the lawn more often than necessary, which does more harm than good. Excessive irrigation not only depletes the water supply, but also encourages shallow grass roots and fungus. Even in the heat of July, most lawns require no more than 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week. Use a rain gauge to monitor rainfall and turn on the sprinklers only if Mother Nature doesn't provide adequate precipitation. Though grass appears verdant in the spring, don't expect your turf to look as fertile during the summer. All grasses lose their lushness when the weather heats up.

  1. Grass Type

    • Cool-season grasses, including ryegrass, bluegrass and fescue, are thirstier than their warm-season cousins. Yards in Northern states typically possess cool-season lawns. To stay green, ryegrass requires 1.5 inches of water each week during the summer. Kentucky bluegrass needs 1.2 inches of water on a weekly basis; fescue should collect 0.8 inch. In Southern states, warm-season grasses flourish during hot periods. Warm-season grass types include zoysia, buffalo, Bermuda and St. Augustine grasses. Keep zoysia and Bermuda grasses green with 0.5 inch of water each week during June, July and August. Buffalo grass requires just 0.3 inch of weekly precipitation during the summer, but established St. Augustine lawns need 1 inch.

    Soil Type

    • Most lawns thrive when you irrigate deeply and infrequently, so watering no more than twice a week makes sense during periods of drought. If your soil has a sandy consistency, however, you must water the lawn more frequently. Water runs right through sand, necessitating three watering applications each week. For example, ryegrass on clay soil should receive 1.5 inches of water each week, or 0.75 inch of water on two separate days. On sandy soil, ryegrass should receive 0.5 inch of water, three times per week.

    Sprinkler Output

    • In the absence of rain, irrigate your turf with either an aboveground or underground irrigation system. To measure your sprinkler's output, set a tuna can on the lawn and turn on the irrigation system. After 30 minutes, measure the water's depth. If the water stands 0.5 inch deep in the can, then you know that one hour of watering yields 1 inch of water. Use this formula as a guide for determining how long to water each zone the proper amount.

    Best Time to Water

    • If your city doesn't dictate your watering schedule, irrigate your lawn at 5 or 6 a.m., before the sun comes up. Water evaporates quickly on hot afternoons, and watering cool-season grasses in the middle of the night will lead to mildew and fungus.

    Special Conditions

    • If trees provide ample shade for your lawn, your turf will require less water than the suggested guidelines. Only irrigate shaded areas when footprints and track marks in the grass no longer bounce back up within three or four hours.

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Lawn Basics
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