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Watering the Perfect Summer Lawn
By Jason Jenkins
The official dog
days of summer are still a month away, but the sixth driest spring
on record in Missouri has many lawns already begging for water.
“Because it was a very wet spring early
on, the turfgrasses didn't put down roots as deep as usual,”
said Brad Fresenburg, University of Missouri turf specialist.
“Now that we've dried out, we're starting to see wilting
in lawns normally associated with the summer months.”
Recently, Pat Guinan, MU climatologist with
MU's Commercial Agriculture Program, reported that for the months
of March, April and May, Missouri averaged only 7.13 inches of
precipitation, which is 4.67 inches below normal.
“The preliminary data indicate this
was the ninth driest May and sixth driest spring overall since
record-keeping began in 1895,” he said.
As homeowners begin dragging out the hoses
and sprinklers to water their lawns, certain considerations should
be made, beginning with whether or not the turf really needs water,
Fresenburg said.
“Wilting turfgrass can turn a dark purple-blue
color, or the blades can start to roll or curl lengthwise,”
he said. “Another early sign is when your footprints remain
in the turf after you’ve walked across it.”
When lawns do require irrigation, Fresenburg
recommended selecting a sprinkler that can be adjusted to meet
the needs of the shape and size of the yard. “The key is
to be able to put the water where it’s needed,” he
said. “Most of the impulse and oscillating hose-end models
can be adjusted for direction and distance.”
How long and how often homeowners operate
their sprinklers is most affected by the type of turfgrass in
the lawn and the type of soil in which it’s growing.
“Some grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass,
require as much as 1.5 inches of water per week during the summer
to remain green and actively growing,” Fresenburg said.
“Others, such as tall fescue, only require about half that
amount.”
He added that for mixed-turf lawns, select
the application rate for the grass that requires the most water.
A simple method to determine your sprinkler's
application rate is to place shallow, straight-sided containers
in a grid pattern under the sprinkler's pattern. “Tuna cans
work well for this,” Fresenburg said. “Run the sprinkler
for a given period of time, and then measure the amount of water
captured. A sprinkler that delivers a one-quarter inch of water
in 30 minutes has a delivery rate of about one-half inch per hour.”
Most clay-type soils, like those in Missouri,
will take in only about one-quarter to one-half inch of water
per hour. “Over-watering is the biggest problem we have
with home irrigation,” Fresenburg said. “If your sprinkler
is delivering water faster than it can soak into the soil, it's
not getting where the turf can use it. It's a real waste of water.”
He recommended that homeowners water early
in the morning when temperatures are cooler and winds usually
are calmer.
“Irrigating in the heat of the day when
the wind is blowing is the absolute wrong time,” Fresenburg
said. “You can waste up to 50 percent of your water then,
and watering in the morning also helps knock off dew that can
promote disease.”
It also is a good idea to bypass or shut off
water softeners when irrigating. “The calcium and magnesium
removed by water softeners can be used by the turf, plus your
machine won’t cycle as much,” he said.
While it remains to be seen whether the summer
of 2005 will be dry, Fresenburg said that cool-season grasses
such as tall fescue can tolerate droughty conditions. “It
doesn’t hurt them to be a little on the dry side,”
he said. “The cooler nighttime temperatures give them a
chance to recover, and if you can get by with less irrigating,
you’ll reduce the chance for disease.”
Guinan said that Missouri has experienced
above-normal temperatures during the summer months following 12
of the 14 previous driest springs. “Below-average summer
precipitation occurred only following nine of those 14 springs,
so the jury's still out for summer rainfall.”
To learn more about home irrigation equipment
and practices, refer to MU Extension Guide Sheet G6720, Home
Lawn Watering Guide.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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