Quick rundown: my water bill shot up by $250 AUD compared to our old place, and we’re not even watering the lawn that much.
I’m in Australia, heading into summer with temps around 36°C (97°F). Got a lawn mix of blue couch and buffalo, but I’m trying to phase out the buffalo. Total lawn area is around 500-600 square meters split into 4 sections.
Using two oscillating strip sprinklers, I water two sections at once (one per lawn) for 1.5 hours each, so that’s a total of 3 hours of irrigation with both sprinklers going at the same time.
I mow it short, around 25mm, and fertilize quarterly with acelepryn twice a year.
Any tips to cut down on water usage without wrecking the lawn? Thanks///
Mow high, and deep and infrequent watering in the morning.
Do all your watering on 1 or 2 days per week. Less moisture loss due to evaporation, deeper roots that access water stored in deeper layers of soil, and there’s a bunch of other benefits that come along with it.
Mowing high = cooler soil and deeper roots.
Deep roots don’t come overnight, so it’s best to start working on these things in cool weather.
@Jai
Also, lots of irrigation systems have a feature to limit runoff. If you want to run a zone for 15 minutes, it will run 5 minutes, off 5 minutes, then water for 5 minutes. I have a lot of slope and I really think this feature helps the water get into the soil rather than run down the hill.
@Scout
That’s an awesome feature! Most systems water too quickly without allowing the soil to absorb it, which is indeed bad. I usually recommend running 2 or 3 consecutive short cycles, which can be tedious… So that feature solves that problem.
@Jai
I use a b-hyve setup that does that. You set up the smart watering program to tell it how much sun and rain that zone gets and what slope it is, then it figures out how long and how many breaks it gets. Bonus: it reads the weather to adjust the watering, automatically delays when it rains, and increases watering when it gets hotter or spreads it out during cooler cloudy weather. It also accommodates for warm-season grass, so it doesn’t need to be drained in Arizona since we never get truly cold.
@RosaBlackchild
Where do you find the runoff feature? I don’t remember seeing that on my setup.
Also, what’s your experience been with the auto/smart watering? I’m in SoCal, and I swear the thing killed my grass, had to switch it back to a manual setup. Afraid to set it back.
@Jai
Less frequent deep watering is better for your lawn. This causes the roots to go deeper into the ground to find reserved water. Frequent shorter watering keeps water available at the surface, so the roots won’t grow deep and instead stay shallow. This principle applies to trees and plants as well.
Jai said: @Ren
Yes, that’s the core premise of my original comment.
Seems you said to do short cycles. Longer cycles less frequently would be better than short cycles more frequently. This will encourage deeper root growth. Having water readily available at the surface encourages shallow root growth.
Palmer said: @Ren
They mean within one watering session to break up your watering into pieces so the water can penetrate the soil.
If you’re watering so much that you’re running nutrients off your entire property, then that’s too much water. If it doesn’t penetrate the ground, you need to aerate or let bugs and animals do that for you. When you mow, shoot the grass out the side and blow it uphill out of the chute, then go back down the line, repeating until most grass that’s left is uphill, then run over it a few extra times.
@Ren
That was kind of a tangent. But it’s still the deep and infrequent concept.
Some soils, particularly clays, don’t allow water to infiltrate quickly… With sprinkler systems that water quickly, it’s easy to water faster than the soil can absorb it, leading to runoff and wasted water (and the “deep” aspect not actually being achieved).
There’s a fine text with deep and infrequent watering… It’d be more accurate to say SLOW deep infrequent watering.
You can simulate the slow watering by: watering, waiting a bit, and then watering again on the same day.
The person I responded to mentioned their sprinkler system has a feature that automatically waters that way.
@Jai
Hey mate, I use a rainwave oscillating sprinkler. Oscillating sprinklers have low output naturally, allowing you to run it for longer. I water once a week for 1.5 hours using the oscillating sprinkler in the early evening. If it rains that week, I don’t water, so I’m already promoting deep root growth. I probably apply soil wetter once a month to every two months. I considered coring it and adding water crystals.
@Jordan
Very nice, though the early evening timing is less efficient. Since you’re only doing it once a week, that’s not a big deal, but know that for some complicated reasons related to grass biology, that is VERY slightly less efficient—about 5% less efficient. It’s hair-splitting stuff lol.
Soil wetting agents are helpful for this, particularly in stimulating deep roots. They may slightly lower water usage efficiency, depending on the soil profile specifics (if your soil is all sand, a wetting agent might hinder retention at high application rates), but they generally help. Visual inspection of the soil typically is good enough to evaluate that. If the soil 2-3 inches down is dry to the touch 24 hours after watering (maybe 48 if you’re watering in the evening), lower the application rate.
Adding water crystals, presumably potassium polyacrylamide, to an established lawn via aeration is an idea I’ve considered testing, but haven’t yet (nor have I found research on its effects when added this way). The concern is that you’d be packing them into holes that are too close together, creating pockets that are often wet and larger portions that remain unaffected. They also degrade within 5 or 6 years, so that’s quite a bit of work to repeat, in my opinion.
Granular wetting agents with polyacrylamides exist. These can be advantageous since the particles are smaller, allowing them to work their way into the soil to some extent. (I think Andersons has one; I can help find it if you’re interested).
To sum up the water crystals idea: it has potential, but it’s experimental. I’d recommend testing on a small area first.
Additional thoughts:
Humic acid has various benefits, but the two most relevant here are: it contains plant hormones that stimulate root growth (particularly in heat and drought stress). It also acts as a mild wetting agent.
Seaweed/kelp extract mimics plant hormones promoting root growth, though it’s stronger than humic acid.
Organic matter (like dead plant material) is naturally absorbent, similar to the water crystals. Some organic matter, such as biochar (Anderson’s biochar), can work its way into the soil when applied to the surface. However, it’s faster/more effective if spread immediately after aeration. Organic matter retains nutrients well. Biochar is the only one that self-incorporates efficiently when applied over the top without aerating.
Check your soil and water source for sodium. A high sodium level in your soil or water reduces the grass’s ability to use water (and your soil’s water retention).
@Jai
What would you consider mowing high for tall fescue based on the season? Every other article I read has a different height. I’m in Maryland, if that helps.
Sunny said: @Jai
What would you consider mowing high for tall fescue based on the season? Every other article I read has a different height. I’m in Maryland, if that helps.
It’s very much related to particular soil aspects. Sandy, well-draining soil makes it easier to grow roots, so you can mow a little lower… But for cool-season grasses, the higher you mow, the better. Always. Period. While people love to present justifications for short grass, 99% of the time, the pros of taller grass outweigh any cons. The only true limiting factor is the grass’s ability to support its weight and the traffic it encounters.
The best advice I can give is: for any time of year, mow as high as you can without the grass flopping over.
Minimum of 3 inches during the growing season, 2.75 for the final cut. Those are minimums. It doesn’t mean you can’t achieve good results below those heights, but it’s challenging in most cases.
