We are often asked: “how often should I water my lawn, and for how long should I water?”
A few things to note, in the state of Florida mechanical/automated watering has been limited to twice a week for all Residents. Although mandatory this isn’t necessarily the best scenario for your turf’s health. Keep in mind that you can still water the old fashioned way as much as you see fit during certain hours. If you notice dry, brown, or folded blades don’t hesitate to break out that water house.
That being said, the two days a week that you should water are typically determined by your house number- this information can usually be found on your county government website.
For St. Augustine grass spray zones should run for 30 minutes each and Rotor zones should run for at least 45 minutes. Because rotors aren’t fixed they need to run longer in order to provide the same level of saturation as a fixed spray head. It’s against state and local regulations to mix rotors and spray heads in the same zone, because one should run longer than the other the combination creates an inefficient system.
The two biggest common mistakes we see are homeowners setting zones to lower run times in order to save water or over watering in an attempt to make the grass greener. Underwatering causes a stress condition for your turf that will become apparent with browning and folded blades. Overwatering turns your lawn into a host for pests and fungus, commonly accompanied by small dark spots on the blades and large discolored areas in the lawn.
If you have any questions regarding this or other lawn maintenance subjects don’t hesitate to let us know!
