Irrigating your lawn

With our spring settling in on us a little sooner than the average year, it will not be long until we need to start watering our lawns, especially if we continue to have a rainfall deficit. How can we tell if our lawns are getting enough moisture to keep it healthy and looking great? The best way to gauge if your lawn is not receiving enough water is to probe the soil to see how moist or dry it is. Soil probes usually either take a sample out of the ground or use electronic sensors to test the moisture.

If you're not interested in buying one of these instruments, you can simply take a narrow screw driver or stiff wire and push it into ground in several places. If you are able to penetrate to the suggested root depth (usually 6-8 inches), then your soil is properly saturated. If not, then your watering and rainfall is not reaching the desired depth and you may need to water for longer periods of time. The ideal situation is for your lawn to develop deep roots that will assure it can get the moisture, air and nutrients that it needs to be beautiful all season long.