My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

[p_rushing]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

I know the feeling AA. Worst drought in over 100 years last year, and this year isn't much better in Georgia. My grass is in fair shape, just doesn't grow very much with rain we're getting, or the lack of. I think I've cut the grass 4-5 times this year.

I just went about 3 weeks and I was thinking I better get it done now or it was going to be bad. Except for a few spots, it really didn't need cutting. A month ago, 10 days was too long between cuttings.

[ARG190]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

Damn it's been the complete opposite here in KC. It's rained at LEAST every other day all summer.

[koebner]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

I do, but we are on water restrictions and I can only water twice a week, which when you are dealing with a drought, is pretty much trying to put a band aid over a gaping head wound.

The key in watering turf is not how often,but how long. The idea is to deliver 1-2" per week. It is preferable that this comes in one or two occurrences,as getting enough water to the root zone is critical. So a 3-4 hour watering session once every 7-10 days will usually suffice. Again, the idea is to water deep, rather than frequent shallow waterings which don't get to the root zone and encourage disease,especially in cool-season turf like fescue and bluegrass.
The upshot is, twice a week should be sufficient watering opportunity as long as you let it rip for several hours. A cheap dial timer at the faucet can help you do this.Start watering in the early morning,set the timer for 3-4 hours,and it will shut off the water while you are away.

[aukevin]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

My yard is still recovering in a couple spots from last year. If I'd stay on top of the watering it be doing a little better, but I only have time to do that a couple days during the week and on the weekends. I might have to put me in a sprinkler system.

[fishepa]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

We have had a few good showers today here in Bluff Park. What kind of grass do you have? We have bermuda which is really drought tolerant, if you have zoysia it is not draught tolerant.

[Husker_OS]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

We get a good rain shower about 3 times a week at my apt complex. Its nice to live near a river

[Aggies7]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

Water it and if you cut it raise the blades.

[Alliball]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

The key in watering turf is not how often,but how long. The idea is to deliver 1-2" per week. It is preferable that this comes in one or two occurrences,as getting enough water to the root zone is critical. So a 3-4 hour watering session once every 7-10 days will usually suffice. Again, the idea is to water deep, rather than frequent shallow waterings which don't get to the root zone and encourage disease,especially in cool-season turf like fescue and bluegrass.
The upshot is, twice a week should be sufficient watering opportunity as long as you let it rip for several hours. A cheap dial timer at the faucet can help you do this.Start watering in the early morning,set the timer for 3-4 hours,and it will shut off the water while you are away.

Your answer completely defeats the purpose of water rationing for the purpose of yard maintenance. If you tried to pull a 3 hour watering session in my town you would get one maybe two warnings then the fines start rolling in.

We haven't seen rain since early march hear in Sacramento, yet I have a full thick green lawn. I only water 42 minutes a week and that does the trick. Mon-Wed-Fri, 7 minute intervals at 3 AM and 6 AM, you do the math.

[koebner]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

Your answer completely defeats the purpose of water rationing for the purpose of yard maintenance. If you tried to pull a 3 hour watering session in my town you would get one maybe two warnings then the fines start rolling in.

We haven't seen rain since early march hear in Sacramento, yet I have a full thick green lawn. I only water 42 minutes a week and that does the trick. Mon-Wed-Fri, 7 minute intervals at 3 AM and 6 AM, you do the math.

In this part of the country,with the predominant turf types,7 minute waterings are a quick ticket to diseases like Brown Patch and Dollar Spot. I should also mention soil types (here it's clay) and thatch levels also are to be taken into account. We've been on alternating-day watering before,but there were 4 hour windows on any given day.Even these weren't strictly enforced.
Your regions' profound lack of rain elicits my sympathies;the tactics of the "water cops" maybe not so much.

[Alliball]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

In this part of the country,with the predominant turf types,7 minute waterings are a quick ticket to diseases like Brown Patch and Dollar Spot. I should also mention soil types (here it's clay) and thatch levels also are to be taken into account. We've been on alternating-day watering before,but there were 4 hour windows on any given day.Even these weren't strictly enforced.
Your regions' profound lack of rain elicits my sympathies;the tactics of the "water cops" maybe not so much.

We're lucky if we have 3 inches of top soil where we live. The subdivisions are built on clay. So I know what that problem is all about.

When you water for 7 minutes and water again 3 hours later it gives the ground time to let the water soak in.

Last year I used to water for 15 minutes straight, but by minute 10 water was starting to run off in to the street. After talking to the "water police" and my landscaper they both told me to water twice a day in shorter intervals and I haven't had a problem with runoff since.

I'm telling you, nothing pisses me off more than driving by somebody's house at 3 in the afternoon on a 100 degree day and they have their sprinklers on while gallon upon gallon of water is running down the gutter because they've been watering for 30 some odd minutes.

Watering more is not the solution, watering smarter is. Remember, water belongs to all of us.

[McLite]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

Hey. How do you install that stuff in your yard? Do you have to rip out all the old grass and put in the synthetic field turf type stuff?

Yup...well actually the company I hired did all that. Ripped up my sod, removed it, capped my sprinklers, and installed the turf. Took them about 8 hours.

[ESPNdeportes]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

Since I moved here to Nashville, I think it has rained 2, maybe 3 times in a month, and one of those times was for 15 minutes tops. My yard looks like crap. Where I came from (Cincy), they had record rainfall in June. Go figure.

[p_rushing]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

What pisses me off is that I can't water using my system, I have to water by hand for 25 minutes, between 12AM - 10AM, so I lose out during the week and can only water on the weekend.

[callmetaternuts]

Re: My yard is dying a slow, painful death yet again.

Just got hit with two days of back to back rain, cant tell you the last time that happened. My yard might have a chance!