Watering lawn
Watering the lawn is an important procedure that determines the proper growth of grasses and the aesthetic appearance of the turf in our garden. Therefore, it is worth getting acquainted with a few basic rules on how to water the lawn, thanks to which we will not make mistakes while watering, and our lawn will be healthy and beautifully green.
How often and how abundantly to water your lawn
Before we go into detail about the rules for the amount and frequency of watering your lawn, note that grasses do not take root just below the soil surface, but rather take root a little deeper – about 10 to 15 cm below the soil surface. You must therefore water the lawn in such a way that the water reaches this depth.
How can this be achieved? To answer this question, let’s consider what happens when we sprinkle the lawn with a small amount of water every day? Then the water evaporates quickly and does not reach the proper depth.
This causes shallow rooting, which reduces the strength and aesthetics of the turf. Worse, often moistened turf is more susceptible to fungal diseases and molds, as well as moss growth.
It is much better to water the lawn less often (depending on weather conditions, e.g. once or twice a week) but very abundantly.
In order for the water to reach the surface of the soil to a depth of several centimeters, depending on the compactness of the soil, you need to provide 5-10 liters of water per m2 of lawn surface during one watering.
Attention! Young lawns, newly established, are an exception to this rule. In the first weeks of their existence, they are very vulnerable to water shortages and require daily watering.
Another thing is the stream of water with which you water the grass. You should never water your lawn with a non-dispersed stream as this can seriously damage the appearance of the turf. That’s why a variety of hose attachments for water grinders or portable sprinklers prove to be useful, as we’ll talk about in a moment.
At what time of the day to water the lawn
It is also important to choose the right time to water your lawn. It should not be done at noon, when the sun is shining at its strongest and the water evaporates quickly from the soil before it can soak deeper.
Watering your lawn in the middle of the day is a complete waste. In addition, water droplets remaining on the blades of grass in strong sunlight act as lenses focusing the sun’s rays and can burn the grass.
The most appropriate time to water your lawn is in the early morning. Then the coolness and minimal evaporation reduce water losses. The sun that appears afterwards will also evaporate excess water that has not soaked into the soil. So the turf will not stay wet for too long.
Watering your lawn in the evening is less beneficial as the turf then remains moist most of the night, which in turn can cause fungus, mold and moss to grow.
How to choose the equipment for watering the lawn
As I mentioned above, we water the lawn with a diffused stream. All sprinkler nozzles, connectors and sprinklers must be selected according to the hose diameter. Therefore, when completing the equipment for watering the lawn, let’s start with choosing a watering hose.
The basic thing is the diameter of the garden hose through which the water will flow to the sprinkler.
You must remember here that as the hose length increases, the pressure of the stream supplied to the sprinkler decreases. In turn, the drop in pressure reduces the spray range.
Therefore, 19 mm hoses are recommended to supply sprinklers. Such hoses, due to their large diameter, have relatively low pressure loss along their entire length. If the distance from the water source to the sprinkler is small, you can optionally choose a slightly cheaper hose with a diameter of 12 mm. Of course, the length of the garden hose is individually adjusted to our needs and the size of the garden.
When buying a lawn watering hose, check if it is resistant to twisting (bending) and that it is protected against UV rays. Otherwise, the hose will not serve us too long (or you will have to hide it in a shaded place for the day).
Once you have a watering hose, match its diameter with other components, such as the tap connector, sprinkler nozzles, sprinklers and connectors. If it is difficult to do, you can choose a ready-made watering set, including a hose with matching other elements – connectors, sprinkler tip, etc. You can use universal quick release couplings with which you can connect all the basic diameters of garden hoses.
To the end of the hose you can connect the spray nozzle or the so-called “gun”.
Spraying nozzles are the cheapest, they provide a straight stream with different atomization regulation.
Slightly better nozzles allow you to regulate the water flow. If you want greater comfort while watering the lawn, it is worth choosing a “spray gun” instead of a nozzle.
The guns come with levers. Thanks to which you can easily and quickly, holding the gun in one hand, change the intensity of the water stream or stop its flow completely (in the case of the spray nozzle, you need to use the other hand to adjust the water stream).
You can use nozzles and guns for other tasks such as washing your car. From this perspective, the lever pistol will turn out to be much more practical.
However, long-term watering of the lawn by hand can be tiring. It is also not a very interesting activity. Therefore, for larger areas, it is worth buying a tilting or rotating portable sprinkler. Which will connect to a hose and go in the desired place on the lawn.
Such sprinklers can irrigate the area from a few to several meters. Then, during irrigation, you can devote yourself to other work in the garden or rest.
This type of solution cannot replace a fully automated irrigation system, but not everyone can afford automatic garden irrigation.
The more so because it is not only the cost of purchasing devices, but also the proper design, taking into account water pressure drops, calculating the correct pipe cross-sections, etc. Therefore, such an installation must be commissioned by professionals.
On your own, however, you can slightly improve “manual” lawn irrigation system. For example by preparing several points (taps) in the garden to which you can connect hose. Thanks to this, you can use a much shorter watering hose and avoid dragging it around the garden. A trolley with a drum on which the hose is can also be a significant help.
How to reduce water consumption and the frequency of watering your lawn
You should think about watering your lawn and water consumption before setting up your lawn. That’s because there is a practical way to significantly reduce the frequency of watering and overall water consumption. And I’m not talking about an expensive and complicated installation of automatic garden irrigation. The method is much cheaper and easier to implement.
Well, before setting up a lawn, it is worth adding TerraCottem to the soil. It contains a hydrogel in its composition. This is water absorbent, retaining significant amounts of water near plant roots. By trapping water, it prevents water losses caused by evaporation and seepage into deeper soil layers.
To achieve this effect, mix TerraCottem with the soil at the root depth of the grasses. It is best to spread TerraCottem on the ground after the initial lawn preparation (digging and leveling).
Then mix it with the ground by raking hard or using a tiller. So that the grains of the preparation are evenly distributed to a depth of 20 cm. Use 100 g of TerraCottem for 1 m² of soil.
TerraCottem allows you to significantly reduce the frequency of watering the lawn, and also reduce water consumption by up to 50%!
Constant access of moisture for grass roots causes the grass to grow faster and we obtain a beautiful, dense, green turf. By reducing the frequency of watering, TerraCottem also helps protect the turf surface from fungus and mold.
It is also worth knowing that TerraCottem, in addition to the hydrogel, also contains a starting dose of fertilizer, which will support the growth of young grass and pieces of volcanic rock, which loosens the soil, facilitating the development of grass roots.
