Everyone knows that lawns need water. Some people are willing to stand on their porch with a hose every morning to ensure their grass gets a good drink, yet no one seems to water their lawn on the same schedule. Is there a right answer? Every lawn is a little bit different, but are some good rules of thumb. It is easy to customize once you understand what you lawn really needs.

Finding the Magic Number
Water for lawns is a lot like food for humans. Grass needs enough water to be nourished, but too much of a good thing can make it lazy, unhealthy and incapable of flourishing when the going gets rough. Under-watering your lawn will, of course, leave it wilting and dying. Over-watering can go one of two ways.

At worst, over-watering will drown your lawn and encourage disease. At best, you will end up with shallow roots that cannot soak up enough deep water stores to survive summer temperatures without sending your water bill through the roof. You want to give your grass just enough to be healthy.

The Rule of Thumb
On average, most lawns need 1.5 inches of water every week. That can come from irrigation, like sprinklers, or rainfall. One, deep watering one day a week in the early morning hours is the best method.

A robust lawn may be able to survive a brief drought on 1.5 inches of water, but you can increase your watering time or split your allotted time up if you notice wilting. Keep in mind some grass will turn brown and go dormant in extreme heat. Dormant grass will not respond to extra water. You just have to wait for temperatures to cool.

Testing the Amount
To test how much water your irrigation system puts out per minute, set several empty, wide-mouth containers of the same size out in different areas of your lawn. Run your system for about fifteen minutes, then measure the water in each container. Figure out how long you have to run your system to get your 1.5 inches. Check each area and adjust your system to ensure more even coverage.

The EPA estimates that Americans use 9 billion gallons of water daily on residential irrigation. The right watering methodology will help you cut back on your contribution to that footprint, improve your lawn’s health and keep your water bill low.