Residential Irrigation: What Not To Do

For homeowners, learning how to water properly is important. Apply too much or too little water and your lawn drowns or withers and both conditions cause stress. Stressed plants are vulnerable to weeds, pests, and disease. Some lawn diseases affect only the look of the lawn, others can persist season to season and kill off large portions of your lawn if left unchecked. The Nutri-Lawn Burlington Irrigation experts know that improper watering practices are often the cause of many lawn diseases and are completely preventable.   

Many lawn diseases are preventable with good lawn care maintenance and proper watering techniques. Here are some of our best tips and warnings for homeowners who want a lush low-maintenance lawn this summer.

• DO water in the early morning. Watering at night leaves moisture on the plants overnight encouraging fungus and mold growth. Watering during the hottest parts of the day is wasteful as much of the water is lose to the air.
• DON'T overwater your lawn so there are puddles or pools of water. Excessive water promotes diseases. Leave an empty tuna or cat food can out to measure how much water you're delivering so you can water just enough to promote deep root growth without drowning the plants.
• DON'T drown your lawn because you know you're going to be away for a couple of weeks. Overwatering does not cancel out under watering later in the summer.
• DON'T water too often because a 'thirsty' lawn will grow deep roots to help the plant grow resistant to disease and drought. Wait until you can see your footprints in the grass when you walk before watering. It's OK to leave it to wilt a little, but don't let the lawn go dormant before delivering more water.
• DON'T let your lawn go dormant and then revive it repeatedly. Grass keeps a store of nutrients to recover from drought when conditions improve and each cycle leaves your lawn weaker and less resistant. Either let your lawn go dormant during the hottest part of the summer, or water consistently during the heat waves.
• DO aerate and dethatch your lawn to let the water reach deeper into the soil. Thatch allowed to grow too deep prevents water from reaching the roots and traps water above the soil creating ideal conditions for disease.
• DO water new sod or new seed more often. Under watering these new plantings puts stress on the plant and allow weeds or disease to take root.
• DON'T cut your grass so short that less 1/3 of the blade remains. Mowing your lawn too short causes stress and leaves the soil exposed to weeds. Cutting your lawn too short also encourages various lawn diseases such as Leaf Spots in addition to having water evaporate from the soil more quickly
• DON'T over water inclines or hills. The lawn on the hill will remain under watered and the lawn at the bottom will drown. Deliver the water slowly enough for it to be absorbed.

The experts at Nutri-Lawn Burlington Irrigation can help you take the guess work out of residential irrigation and offer the major brands with professional expertise.
Contact us today for your complimentary quote.