Watering Your Lawn Over the Long Term

If you want your lawn to look and grow its best, you need to know how to water it over the long term. In this chapter, we’ll consider the best way to water a lawn that is already well-established in your yard.

How Often to Water Your Lawn

During the growing season, you should water your lawn about once or twice per week. However, you can alter this rate as you see fit. For instance, when the weather is exceptionally hot and dry, it’s best to increase your watering rate.

You should also pay attention to the time of year when watering your lawn. In spring, summer, and fall, it makes sense to adhere to a once-weekly watering.

In winter, your lawn watering needs will diminish significantly but won’t disappear. Continue monitoring the health of your grass in the cold months and consider giving it water about once a month.

How Much Water Does a Lawn Need?

It helps to know how often to water a mature lawn, but you also need to know how much water to provide each time. Most lawn grasses will perform well if you give them about one to one and a half inches of water per week.

To calculate the quantity of water your lawn needs, start by estimating the area of your lawn in square feet. Then multiply that figure by .62, which is how many gallons of water it takes to give a square foot of lawn one inch of water.

The product of your lawn’s square footage multiplied by .62 is the amount of water, in gallons, you should give your lawn each week during the growing season.

The Best Ways to Water a Lawn

Now that you know how often and how much to water your lawn, let’s cover some of the best methods for supplying that water. Here are three of the most common and effective ways to water a lawn.

  • Sprinkler Systems: Running a sprinkler system requires minimal effort once it is set up. Using your sprinklers for about 40 per week is often enough to give your lawn the water it needs.
  • Drip Irrigation: Drip irrigation systems lie within the soil, near your lawn’s roots, and allow the ideal amount of moisture to seep into the soil.
  • By Hand: Watering by hand may be one of the best ways to water your lawn. Using a hose or another hand-held watering tool lets you be more precise in giving water to the parts of your lawn that need it most.