Lawns - to water or not to water?

                                                                   

To get the best out of your lawn during summer, you’ll need to water it at some point, says Nigel Jupe of Norfolk’s lawn agronomy company – Great Grass.

While feeding, weeding and moss control (which are all covered by the Great Grass service) are essential in creating a great lawn, it is important not to overlook other limiting factors such as water. Let a lawn dry out and the grass plants soon become stressed and weakened, Richard warns.

 

 

 
If you cast your mind back to the last dry spell, many Norfolk lawns quickly lost their allure.  It is important to keep grass healthy by ensuring it has adequate water when needed.   Summer droughts weakened many lawns and lead to severe moss problems the subsequent spring.  While lawns that are well cared for fared much better, those that have adequate water come through on top.

 

Water Tractors

Attitudes to watering grass vary from ‘definitely not’, through ‘occasionally’, to ‘yes’!   The perceived expense puts off some people with water meters who are concerned about running up a large bill.    In fact, the cost of watering a small to medium size lawn is probably less than you think.  With 1000 litres of mains water costing approximately 90p – for a few pounds you can even give a relatively large lawn (500m2) a good watering.

Cost of applying water via a water meter @ 90p/cubic m  (1000 l)

Square Metres

Water Applied

¼ inch (6mm)

½ inch (12mm)

100

£0.57

£1.14

300

£1.71

£3.43

500

£2.86

£5.72

 

Great Grass Water Tractor

  

Then comes the question of how to get the water onto the lawn.  Many are discouraged by the ‘hassle’.  The good news is that for lawns that can be watered using a domestic

12mm (½ inch) hose, help is now at hand with the Water Tractor (available from Great Grass for £85 inc VAT).  

A simple, yet ingenious devise, it applies water to a swath - approximately 10m wide - as it travels back down an outstretched hose to the tap.  The water pressure drives a turbine, which in turn drives the wheels.  The water tractor turns itself off at the end of the run, enabling it to apply a goodly amount of water without supervision.  

 

How much water to apply?


While professional greenkeepers might take into account the soil type, soil moisture status, the prevailing and forecast weather and the state of the sward, until there is an automatic irrigation scheduling device for gardeners, the best plan is to keep it simple.


Great Grass recommends applying a good dose, in the region of 7 to 15mm (approximately ¼ to ½ inch) once or twice a week.

 

The water tractor will apply just under 7mm assuming average domestic water pressure.  If possible, apply the water in the evening when the grass first starts to loose its colour / luster. 

Even if there has been some rain, unless it has been very heavy don’t be fooled - you are still likely to need to water for best results.  In contrast, watering little and often is not recommended.

For large lawns irrigating sufficiently becomes more involved, as a conventional hose may be impractical.  In this situation, irrigation is only likely to be effective using a pumped system with associated holding tank with a number of sprinklers attached - inevitably this will be more expensive. 

 
 Summary

So, for great grass all year round it is likely that you are going to have to supplement natural rainfall at some point in the year.  However, it may cost less and be easier to apply than you think. 

 

 

                                                                                            Remember – don’t let your lawn get too stressed as although it might eventually come back, it will be weakened by the experience and you are therefore likely to suffer increased risk of moss and weed invasion the following season.

Article published in the Norfolk Country Gardener 2004.