Everyone says that you should not water the lawn during the day, as the sun can evaporate all the water away and there is a lot of waste of water. So what’s the best time to water if not during the day? Some people think it’s nighttime when the sun can’t evaporate the water and the temperature is cooler.
So, should you water the lawn at night? No, watering the lawn at night is the worst thing you can do to your lawn as the excess water doesn’t evaporate at night and the cooler temperature and wet lawn make the perfect condition for fungus and other diseases to grow. The wet lawn can also make the roots rot.
Now you know that you shouldn’t water your lawn at night but why and if not at night then when should you water your lawn? Let’s discuss all these things in detail.
Why Is It Bad To Water Grass At Night?
Timing of watering the lawn matters. If you want to have a beautiful lawn, the timing is very crucial to do that and you have to ensure that you are watering the lawn at the perfect time. And if you are thinking that night is the best time to water your lawn because of the cooler temperature and no evaporation, then you are wrong.
Watering the grass at night is very bad for your lawn as it can ruin the lawn and your whole lawn could die in a month or two. There are three things which are temperature, water clogging, and no sunlight is what makes watering at night bad for the lawn. Let’s discuss these things in detail.
- Temperature – the temperature of the night and in the early morning is similar and both are very effective times to water the lawn because of the efficiency. But after the early morning watering, the sun comes out and increases the temperature which helps the lawn to prevent fungus and other diseases in the lawn. But at night the temperature remains the same and a cool environment with moist soil helps the fungus and diseases to grow in the lawn.
- Water Clogging – the other factor which is bad for the lawn is water clogging and night watering promotes water clogging as the excess water can’t evaporate because of the cooler temperature. Because of the cooler temperature, the excess water remains in the soil and damages the grass by root rot and fungus.
- Sunlight – sunlight also plays part in proper watering as it helps the excess water to evaporate and stops fungus and disease due to hot temperatures. If you water the lawn at night then there is no heat and cool temperature promotes diseases.
So when do you water your lawn? What is the best time to make your lawn beautiful and healthy, but let first discuss some myths about watering and clear them about?
Myths About Watering The Lawn
So to clear out some myths which are very popular and can’t confuse a new lawn owner and make it difficult for them to maintain the lawn properly.
- I Don’t Have to Water My Lawn
Some lawn owners think that they don’t need to water their lawn as rain is enough for their lawn, but that is not true. Rain is sufficient for the lawn to grow but what if there is no rain for a month. If you don’t water the lawn in the dry period the lawn can go dormant and then the lawn can thin out and die. So you need to water the lawn when it is dry and needs water to grow.
- How Much I Water My Lawn is Based on the Season
Many people think that watering the lawn is dependent on the season and you need to water according to it, but that’s not the truth. The whole point of watering is according to how much the soil already has and how much water it needs to become thick and beautiful. so you need to water the lawn by checking the moisture of the soil and not the season you are in.
- The Best Time to Water My Lawn is After the Sun Sets
This is the most common myth in every lawn owner’s mind that watering at night is more efficient and helpful for the lawn but watering the lawn at night is more harmful than any other time in the day as it promotes fungus and diseases to the lawn because of the cool temperature and excess water in the lawn.
- Watering My Lawn by Hand is the Best Method
Watering the lawn by hand is not efficient and is good for your lawn. Watering the lawn by hand is very inconsistent and you can pull a single area with a lot of water and can deprive some area of the lawn. If you do it with a sprinkler the lawn will get consistent water in every area and you will have the correct measure of how long you need to water the lawn to maintain it.
- The Worst Thing I Can Do is Under-Water my Lawn
Underwatering or overwatering in both conditions is bad for the lawn as in both cases the lawn can get stressed and the grass can become brown and die. So to maintain the lawn you need to properly water the lawn no less or no more water is good for the lawn.
- Watering grass in hot weather will burn grass
This is also a very popular myth that if you water the lawn in the hot afternoon, you will get the lawn burned. Watering the lawn on a hot afternoon is indeed inefficient. Most of the water evaporates due to heat and wind but it will not burn the grass or damage the lawn. You can water the lawn on a hot afternoon if the lawn is dry.
So when is the best time to water the lawn, in the evening or the morning or maybe you can do it any time? overwatering Let’s discuss this in detail.
Is It Better To Water Grass In The Morning Or Evening?
Watering the lawn at night is a bad idea as it damages the lawn because of the fungus and diseases developing in the lawn due to cool temperature and water clogging. So watering your lawn in the morning is way better than watering the lawn at night.
When To Start Watering The Lawn?
If you have just seeded a lawn and you are thinking about why you should start watering it. The best time to start watering the new lawn is just after you have completed the seeding of the lawn, and you need to lightly water it 3 to 4 times a day to keep the soil moist to get the seeds to germinate.
If you have an already established lawn and it is coming back from the dormant season and you are wondering about when should you start watering the lawn? Many lawn owners think that you need to wait to see when the lawn is becoming yellow and then you start the watering then it can ruin the lawn. The best time to start watering the lawn after the dormant period is to see when the soil is dry and doesn’t have any moisture in it. That’s the best time to start watering and this is around a week after when you start seeing that the lawn is coming back.
When To Start Watering The Lawn In Spring?
When the lawn is coming out of the dormancy from the winter season, many lawn owners waits for a long time thinking the lawn doesn’t need watering until it’s dry and the grass is turning yellow. But this is no right as it will damage your lawn. After the winter season, start watering your lawn as soon as possible and see if the top layer of the soil is dry or not, and then after a week or so, go back to your normal schedule.
Best Time To Water Grass Seed?
The best time to water the grass seed in your lawn is in the morning and the afternoon as well, as you need to water grass seed more frequently than an established lawn. So if you are watering a new lawn you need to water it in the morning as well as in the afternoon to keep the soil moist all the time to boost the germination of seeds by giving them a color condition. The watering in the afternoon is very crucial as this is the hottest time in the day and the seeds don’t germinate in the hot condition. So the best time is in the morning and the afternoon. Don’t ever water the lawn at the night thinking you will help your lawn cause watering the lawn at night will ruin your new lawn than helping it.
Lawn Watering Schedule
The best lawn watering schedule is to water your lawn for 30 mins in the early morning or before the sun comes out. 30 mins of watering mean 1 to 1.5 inches of water in the soil which is enough for a lawn. Water the lawn two times a week to maintain a healthy and beautiful lawn.
Deep and infrequent watering means you are promoting the grass to have deep roots in the soil by searching for the water into the soil deeply. Deep root means your grass will be drought and heat resistant and will survive the summer very easily.
How Long Should You Water Your Lawn?
How long you should water your lawn is very dependent on what soil your lawn has. Just as the frequency is important, you need to know the duration of the watering. You need the water to go around six inches deep into the soil to make the root grow deep and healthy.
And in general, if you want your lawn to get water to six inches deep then you should water around 15 to 20 minutes. But to know the exact timing you need to dig out some part of the lawn and check if it is moist to 6 inches deep or not. If you want an easier way than digging up the lawn then you can grab a screwdriver and put it in the soil and measure how deep it’s easily going into the soil.
So there are two kinds of soils in the lawn and both have different needs. Let’s discuss both of these soils in detail:
- Clay soil – clay soil is a dense soil, which takes time to get the water deep into the soil so you need to water the lawn longer than other lawns. But the good thing is clay soil retains water longer than other lawns. You need to water for around 30 to 45 mins in the lawn which is around 1 to 1.5 inches of water and can go six inches deep into the soil.
- Sandy soil – the other type of soil is sandy soil, which is very loose soil and can easily get moist around six inches deep in 15 to 20 mins of watering. But the downside to sandy soil is that it doesn’t hold moisture as long as clay soil can and you need to water the sandy soil more frequently than clay soil.
How Long Does It Take To Water The Lawn In Summer?
In summer, the heat and evaporation are more than usual and if you are watering the lawn in the early morning then the duration of water will be the same or a little bit more than normal. But if you water the lawn in the summer afternoon, then you need to increase the duration of the watering as the water will evaporate due to heat and wind.
If your lawn has clay soil then you need to water around 40 to 50 mins, 2 times a week, and if you have sandy soil then around 30 to 40 mins 3 times a week.
Best Way To Water A Lawn?
The best way to water your lawn is to have a sprinkler system on your lawn the benefit of using a sprinkler system and not watering the lawn by hand is to water your lawn by hand is very inconsistent and can water some parts more and some less, but if you have a sprinkler system then it will make sure that the whole lawn gets even watering.
Another thing to get the best way of watering your lawn is to have a timer attached to your sprinkler system, which will ensure that you are watering the lawn for a consistent amount of time every time and not under watering or overwatering it.
How To Tell If Your Lawn Has Been Watered Enough?
There are some ways you can determine if your lawn is getting enough water or not. But The best way to see if your lawn is getting enough water or not is to see if your lawn looks healthy and green, if it’s looking healthy and green then you are watering your lawn correctly but if it’s not then you need to make some changes to your watering schedule and how you are watering it.
If you want to make sure your lawn is getting enough water then you can dig up a small part of the lawn after the watering and see how deep the water has got. A healthy lawn needs to have moist soil around six inches deep to get a deep root system and a healthy lawn.
If you don’t want to put a lot of work into digging your lawn and checking it, you can take up a screwdriver and check if it’s going 6 to 7 inches deep into the soil easily and coming back moist. If the screwdriver is not getting into the soil easily then you need to change your watering schedule.
Ready for the changes in season and change your watering schedule according to it. If your lawn is getting rain then you need to stop or reduce the watering in your lawn and if the heat is too much in the summer you need to increase the duration of the watering.
Watering Different Lawn Types
So there are two types of lawns, cool-season lawns and warm-season lawns with different varieties of grasses and both types of lawns have different types of watering needs and you should adjust according to, temperatures of the lawn. So see what lawn you have and what type of variety of grass it contains. Once you find out which type of lawn and grass you have and how much water it needs than water the lawn accordingly to maintain the lawn.
Warm-season grasses – warm-season grasses like zoysia grass and bermudagrass grow best when the temperature is hot but they need water to be healthy. Spring season is the best when the warm season grasses start to grow and need proper watering and need less or no watering in the cool winter season.
Cool-season grasses – cool-season grasses such as bluegrass, fescue or ryegrass are some of the most commonly grown grass in the cool season lawn. The cool-season grass is more watering in the summer as they cannot survive much heat and goes dormant in the summer season but they need less amount of water in the winter season like any other grass. And you don’t need to water cool-season grass when the frost gets hold of the lawn.
So watering the lawn at night is not a good idea as it will surely damage your lawn, and the est time to water the lawn is in the early water to get the best result.
