A green lawn doesn't necessarily mean a healthy lawn
4:55 p.m. Monday, August 18, 2008
Irrigation and U.S. water specialists stress that the average American puts too much water on their lawn, and, unfortunately, it's for aesthetic reasons.
And that view is shared by garden experts who help us make our lawn and gardens look as beautiful as possible. Dave Jackson tells us why it's so easy to water our lawn too much.
"You got that sprinkler system out there, and it's doing the job; and, it's pretty easy to set that thing to come on every day," Dave Jackson said.
And just because what's above the ground looks good, doesn't mean what's below the ground is. Dave tells me what happens to a lawn that gets too much water.
"You'll get a lawn that inherently will be less healthy because there is less of a root system," he said.
And a shallow root system will increase your lawn's chances of acquiring disease and potential kill during the winter.
So how much water should you put on your lawn?
"The frequency then depends if you can, in the real hot times, if you can put a half-an-inch of water down, three times a week. That's probably good," Dave said. "That is what our soils here in Shawnee County probably absorb without wasting water, running it into the ditch."
Dave Jackson says the best time to water is at 5 a.m. This way, you do not have water sitting on your lawn all night, inviting fungus, slugs and grubs; and, you also can be assured that the temperatures will be the coolest, which helps to reduce evaporation.
And with a warming, global climate, evaporation rates will increase, so getting used to watering at 5 a.m. now might come in handy, should water use become more restricted in our future.
The best way to figure out if you need to water is to simply keep up with the weather.
Our 49 Storm Team forecast is available 24-hours a day, on-air and online.
Or you can watch our KTKA 24-7 Weather Now channel on Cox Digital cable channel 675.
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