Watering Your Lawn Without Breaking the Law!
How much do you water your lawn and landscape? Most homeowners water too frequently for durations that are too short. However, city watering restrictions have limited that frequency. Where you live most likely dictates how you now water. We still see a lot of home owners violating city watering restrictions by watering on additional un-assigned days or running their automated systems between 10am-6pm. But no matter where you live, it is possible to keep your landscape hydrated without breaking the law. You just need to water smartly, not more often.
“One-inch of water per week on established landscapes and trees.”
Have you heard this before? Generally, one-inch of water is sufficient to keep lawns and gardens healthy and hydrated during the heat. Deep, infrequent watering will encourage healthy roots that grow deep into the soil. Watering frequently for short periods of time will encourage a shallow root system, weakening plants and reducing vigor.
Water Restrictions Shouldn’t Keep You Down!
If you live in Dallas, you can run your sprinklers and irrigation systems up to twice a week. The chart below shows you you which days you can water. Automated sprinklers may not be run between 10am and 6pm.
Not sure how long to run your automated sprinklers? Here is a simply way to audit your system: Place tuna cans around your landscape in different irrigation zones. Run your system on an approved day and see how long it takes for each zone to fill each tuna can. That will tell you how long you need to water each zone in order to deliver enough water. If your soil is compacted, you may need to split up that amount of watering with two consecutive watering cycles to avoid runoff.
For those of you in cities with more strict watering ordinances, there are still ways to keep your landscape healthy: Follow our handy watering guidelines to learn how to adjust your systems.
Remember: You may water container gardens, newly planted trees and shrubs, and vegetable gardens by hand as needed or with drip systems and soaker hoses. Be sure to check your individual city’s water guidelines.
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