Lawn Care Therapy Watering Tips

General tips to help hydrate your lawn

No matter how much you invest in your lawn nothing will work without sufficient water. The vast majority of “brown patch” problems are moisture-related.

In summer the grass will go into a brown hibernated state if the soil cannot provide moisture directly to the grass roots.

1. Mow it longer than normal!
The lawn below had suffered drought for 4 very dry and sunny weeks but was mowed to a higher setting (3cm). The good colour was therefore purely down to better moisture retention within the plant. Also a nice optical illusion!.. the extra shade between each grass blade not only keeps it cool but also creates a deeper green (shaded) appearance. This method is completely free!

2. Evening watering
Water should be applied in the evening so that it can seep below the surface overnight rather than evaporate in the morning sun or breeze – this minimises your water usage.

3. Try setting up a sprinkler with an empty jam jar
Try setting up a sprinkler with an empty jam jar placed on the lawn to measure the actual depth of water you are applying. This way you can begin to compare to the average of 3mm daily rainfall which we see in the North West.

Try setting up a sprinkler with an empty jam jar

4. If the lawn has already become dry in drought conditions it will need a good soaking. Water it until the jar contains 2-3cm before moving to the next area of grass. This will ensure that the whole lawn gets a deep penetration of moisture forcing the roots to reach downwards for water (deeper roots = stronger lawn). Repeat this twice per week.

5. Surface drying out
If the the surface is then becoming dry again just top-up with a further 3mm each evening until it recovers or rain has returned.

6. Help your sown grass seed to germinate
If you have freshly sown seeds never allow the water to pool and cause any floating seeds – they need constant soil contact (plus moisture and warmth) to germinate.

7. Grass lawn wetting agents
If the water run’s straight off the surface (or off certain patches) use a garden fork which encourages the soil to accept moisture until it gradually softens up. Alternatively, if it’s a large lawn, ask us to apply a professional “Wetting Agent” which will achieve the same results without all the hard work!