The Best Time to Water Your Lawn
Just owning a sprinkler sprinkler system isn’t enough
Beautiful, green lawns require properly timed & calibrated systems to avoid common watering pitfalls.
When is the best time to run your sprinkler system?
Yes, unfortunately, there is such a thing as caring too much about the health of your lawn.
Whether you’re drowning your Kentucky Blue with too much water at one time or you’ve simply miscalibrated your residential sprinkler timer, improper lawn watering can lead to more dead grass than if you never installed a sprinkler system to begin with!
Far too often, we’ve come across folks whose mowers are sitting useless in the garage, the HOA is on their case, and they’ve run up a water bill that has them sleeping on the couch.
Luckily for you, we’re here to help.
Recommended Sprinkler Run Times
What Time of Day Should I run My Sprinkler?
A general rule of thumb, especially in the summertime when the temperatures are high, is to always set your watering times for the early hours of the morning.
At Commercial Lawn Irrigation, we recommend sprinkler system run times be set between the hours of 4:00 and 6:00 in the morning.
These are the most recommended sprinkler run times (especially on a hot day) for two reasons:
If you water your lawn in the middle of the day, most of the water will evaporate before it can soak into the soil. Remember, that water does no good if it’s sitting on top of your grass blades. It’s the root system that needs that sustenance.
Surprisingly enough, running the sprinkler in the middle of the day can actually directly fry your grass if summer temperatures are insanely hot—something that’s become all too common in the humid Midwest. So for the folks wondering “Does watering my grass in the sun burn it?” the answer is, yes it certainly can if it’s a hot enough day!
What’s the best time to water Your Grass During a Heatwave?
Summer heatwaves can be difficult to plan your watering schedule around, especially because the sunshine itself becomes a danger to your grass when it’s wet. Having your sprinkler set to run in the early morning ensures that your grass has time to absorb the water before the heatwave starting around noon.
You can set your electronic sprinkler timer to run during the morning hours automatically, so you don’t have to worry about checking on your lawn, or when you contact us to install your sprinkler for you, we’ll happily program the system to optimal times on your behalf.
Should You water Your lawn in the middle of the night to avoid that troublesome heat?
Surprisingly enough, that answer is also no.
Whereas the midday hours present the problem of inefficiency, the late evening hours present the problem of fungal growth. The dark, damp hours of the summer night boast the optimal conditions for harmful fungi, so it’s best to leave your lawn as dry as possible.
“Setting your sprinkler to run at night is actually setting yourself up for failure. ”
Plus, one other advantage of watering during the early morning hours is that, generally speaking, dawn is less windy. Once again, you want the water that’s sitting on the grass to be able soak through to the roots, rather than literally evaporate into the wind.
How Long Should You Let Your Sprinklers Run For?
First, let’s clarify something: the exact right length of time to run your sprinkler system will be dependent on a number of different variables. Things like:
how windy it is outside
the current temperature
the specific needs of your variety of grass
the age of your grass (whether or not it’s new seed or new sod, for example)
and most importantly the density and texture of your soil.
In addition, you also need to consider the size of your zone. Are your sprinkler zones covered by large popup spray heads, or are we talking about small bubbler heads watering the roots of your landscaping plants?
More complicated than it seems at first glance, no? The good news is that whenever you’re in doubt, you can consult a professional irrigation company with all your watering questions.
With all of those caveats aside, we can offer you some general advice that should keep your grass watered well-enough to stay green and lush throughout the growing season. As a general rule of thumb, most of our customers who are utilizing the most common types of spray heads can comfortably water their lawn for 10 minutes at a time.
If you’re running rotor heads, you can bump that time up to 20 minutes.
How Often Should You Be Watering Your Lawn?
Again, the true answer to this question is: it depends! However, the general rule of thumb is to water your lawn every other day for the recommended amount of time for your lawn and grass conditions.
Naturally, if it has rained (or if rain is in the forecast), you should adjust your watering accordingly. Trust us, there’s nothing worse than an overwatered, soggy lawn full of dead grass!
This is exactly why rain sensors are so important for your sprinkler system. If they detect moisture in the air, they sync up with your sprinkler timer to disable the scheduled watering, saving your lawn (and your wallet!).
Additional watering factors to consider:
Sprinkler Heads
The optimal watering settings for your lawn during the summertime will heavily depend on the sprinkler head types found within your watering system. Professional installers like ourselves like to organize each different type of sprinkler head into their own zones because their overall gallon output will be different.
For example, rotor sprinkler heads might require 20 to 30 minutes of straight watering time, while a traditional spray head zone will only need 5 to 10 minutes.
If you’re not considering the overall water output of each zone, you run the risk of overwatering, meaning you drown your grass out and are left with a swamp buzzing with mosquitos.
No thank you.
Generally speaking, in terms of frequency per week, a standard sprinkler system will always fall around a schedule of 3 waterings per week.
Weather
Rain sensors are the secret weapon of any professional irrigation system. Those summer thunderstorms have a tendency to dump buckets of water at a moment’s notice, and our customers don’t want to worry about whether or not they turned their sprinkler timers off manually every time the forecast calls for rain.
Your own personal weathermen, rain sensors detect weather patterns that could lead to overwatering. They accomplish this through a series of corks that expand when they get wet, preventing your system from triggering.
However, if you don’t have the benefit of boasting a system with the latest technology, you’ll obviously want to check the weather forecast a few days in advance of each lawn watering.
Soil type
This is where we get into the nitty-gritty—literally!
Do you live near a river?
Your lawn is likely sandy or loamy (in other words, less dense). That means you’ll have to factor longer and more frequent watering times into the health of your green lawn.
Some might not know that different soil types actually have different saturation rates, but it makes sense when you think about it. For example, a yard that’s composed of mostly clay will be very dense, meaning it reaches its saturation point very quickly compared to less dense varieties like sandy or loam soils. Sandy soil doesn’t retain much water which means you’d have to water longer and more often.
As top watering system experts in the Midwest for the past 25 years, we’ve found that the majority of soil types in Midwest lawns are clay-based, however, if you find yourself living in a bottom area, perhaps close to a river, you might be dealing with more sandy material.
Bottom line, if you have questions about how your lawn’s soil type affects the amount (or length of time) you should be watering your lawn, contact us and we’ll be happy to help you brainstorm!
“That’s a lot of information!”
No doubt! There’s so much more that goes into the everyday task of watering the grass on your lawn than you likely ever imagined. It’s truly a “rabbit hole” conversation piece within the industry.
But, rest assured, when you work with Commercial Lawn Irrigation, you’re relinquishing every stressful thought as it pertains to your watering schedule. We’ll set the optimal sprinkler heads, watering times, zone strategy, conduct soil analysis, and even install a rain detector for every automatic sprinkler system we install.
Our end goal is that every single one of our customers simply has to sit back, relax, and watch their lawn grow.
If you’re one of the many who are stuck in the rut of programming their own sprinklers, or even watering your yard completely by hand, consider giving us a call! We’ve spent over 25 years in the industry perfecting the art of growing beautiful lawns in the Midwest.
Plus, when we install your sprinkler system, we also cover the first year’s worth of start-up and winterization duties.
Fill out a contact form or give us a call at (618)667-6217 to schedule your free estimate!