Summer lawn care: To water or not to water?
By Susan Edwards CHESTERFIELD COUNTY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION OFFICE

If you're going to water your lawn, follow the one-half inch, twice a week rule.

Watering cool-season lawns in the summer can definitely help them overcome the stress of the season. These grasses are adapted to climates where daytime temperatures are between 60-75 degrees. In Chesterfield County, we typically exceed this temperature range June through August, and the high temperatures can do a number on our lawns. The key: If you start watering, don't stop.

Cool-season grasses naturally go dormant in stressful conditions. If the weather isn't agreeing with them, they'll halt growth for awhile until conditions become more favorable. The problem with watering a little here and a little there but not on a regular one-inch per week schedule, is that you delay or prevent dormancy. The grass continues to grow, though struggling to do so, and is subjected to more stress than if it were watered regularly or allowed to go dormant. This may result in some turf failing to make it through the season.

If you choose to water, do so on the one-half inch, twice a week schedule. Watering deep and infrequently helps to promote a deep, healthy root system, increasing the lawn's ability to cope with heat and drought.

Don't know how long to water to get onehalf inch? Place some shallow, flat bottom tins (such as cat food or tuna fish cans) throughout your lawn and turn the sprinklers on. Start timing and check the tins periodically to measure how much water has collected. When you get an average of one-half inch among all the tins, stop and record your time. Now you know how long to set your sprinklers to run.

If you have a warm-season turf like bermuda, zoysia, St. Augustine or centipede, you're in luck: these grasses have great drought tolerance. Warm-season grasses, which are becoming more and more popular in our area, on the whole are more water-efficient than cool-season grasses. You may want to consider one for your lawn if you're looking for lower maintenance and little to no required watering. The major drawback of warm-season grasses is their dormancy period, which lasts about five months in our area (late fall into early spring). If you can get past the brown color in the winter, you'll be rewarded with low water bills and a lower maintenance lawn.

For more information on lawn irrigation or warm-season grasses for turf, please contact the Chesterfield County Cooperative Extension Office at 751-4401.