With the temperatures starting to heat up it’s a good time to review the watering needs of your lawn. Keeping your lawn watered during July and August is probably the most important lawn care maintenance item we need to worry about in Michigan.

Proper amounts of water and good coverage are critical to the success of your lawn program. Turf will not survive on fertilizer alone. Water makes up 70%-80% of the weight of grass blades and helps to move the fertilizer and weed control to the root zone where it is readily taken up and used. Any areas not receiving adequate water will be apparent by the leaf blades beginning to fold lengthwise. Any areas deficient in water will respond slowly to your lawn fertilization program and could potentially lead to turf loss.

In order to properly water your lawn, it should receive 1” of water per week. This can be easily measured by placing an empty tuna fish can or a small shallow square container in the lawn and running the irrigation system long enough to fill the container to a depth of 1”. This will tell you how long your irrigation system needs to run per week to supply your lawn with 1″ of water. For example, if it takes 30 minutes of watering to reach your required 1″ of water, you many need to break your watering times into 3 days at 10 minutes each day. The goal is to avoid water runoff and get the maximum use out of your water without waste.

During periods of drought, it is especially important to check all irrigation heads. This helps to ensure they are working properly and you are receiving adequate amounts and coverage of water. In general, you will want to water ONLY in the early morning hours. Irrigation should be off by daybreak (dawn). This will help to reduce the likelihood of the lawn staying wet for too long and creating the potential for disease.