How Often Should I Water My Residential Lawn

If you’re like most Springfield IL homeowners, you want a green healthy-looking lawn, even in the middle of the summer. However, you probably don’t have a lot of time to devote to watering or money to spend on water. Plus, over-watering can harm your grass.

Benefits of Watering Your Lawn Regularly

There are several benefits to watering your lawn regularly. Of course, the most obvious is having a lush, verdant lawn. Healthy, lush grass is also less susceptible to disease and can withstand extreme changes in temperature more easily. Healthy grass is also much less likely to provide a breeding ground for weeds.

Another benefit of regular watering is helping to keep beneficial creatures healthy like earthworms, which work to aerate your soil.

How Often You Should Water Your Lawn

At Custom Taylor’d Lawn & Landscape, we agree with the University of Illinois Extension Office which advises that residential lawns need between 1″ and 1.5″ of water per week in order to thrive. How much you water depends on how much rain your lawn receives each week.

The best time of day to water your lawn is just after dawn, before the heat of the day. This prevents too much water from evaporating in the sun. Watering in the early morning gives the grass plenty of time to dry out before nighttime. Watering in the late afternoon or early evening means the grass is still damp after dark. Wet, dark conditions can be a breeding ground for diseases that affect the grass.

Don’t Overwater Your Grass

At Custom Taylor’d Lawn and Landscape, we’ve found that homeowners tend to water more than is necessary. There’s no need to run up your water bill using daily sprinklers. A thorough watering once or twice a week in the driest part of the summer or spring is usually sufficient.

In general, cool-season grasses, such as ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, and most fescues, naturally slow down in growth in the summer and may go dormant and stop growing altogether in hot weather

What you don’t want to do is to water your lawn well for a month or so and then go on vacation or get bored with the process and stop watering. This behavior prevents the grass from going dormant and puts undue stress on the lawn when you stop watering it.

Taking care of your lawn with Custom Taylor’d Lawn and Landscape

Custom Taylor’d Lawn & Landscape offers a variety of residential lawn care services, including landscaping, summer lawn maintenance, watering services, and grass maintenance.

To learn more about our summer lawn care services or to schedule an appointment, contact us at (217) 306-4215. We’ve been helping Springfield IL homeowners like you with their lawn care needs for nearly 20 years.