How Long?

Each watering of your lawn should provide plenty of water for the active root zone of the grass. The length of time this takes depends on the type of watering system you use, and the type of soil you have. In general, most types of grass need to be soaked to a depth of eight to twelve inches. Some grasses, such as bluegrass, need to be soaked to a depth of six to eight inches.

To calculate how long you'll need to run your sprinkler system to achieve the right depth, do the following:

1. Run your sprinkler system for fifteen minutes.

2. After 24 hours, drive a screwdriver or other implement into the earth to check how deep the water penetrated. You'll be able to drive the implement easily through moist soil, but once you hit dry soil it will become difficult.

3. Divide 120 by the depth of moist soil you determined in step 2. If the water soaked in to a depth of three inches, for example, you'll end up with a figure of 40 minutes. That means it will take two hours for the lawn to be soaked to a depth of nine inches, and two hours and forty minutes to get soaked to a depth of twelve inches.

Water Conservation Tips

• If you live in a climate that routinely achieves very high temperatures during the summer, consider letting your lawn go dormant as an alternative to watering.
• Purchase a rain gauge so that you can determine how much rain your lawn receives, and avoid over-watering.
• Aerate your lawn to allow the grass to use water more efficiently.

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