DH Says I Need to Be Watering in the Heat of the Day :o

12 years ago

I know, he's nuts! He doesn't believe that watering during the heat of the day is going to burn the grass, not to mention evaporation issues. DH installs carpet for a interior design store and custom builders. Nearly everyday he's in upper class neighborhoods, country clubs and sees their golf courses. Every night he comes home and says their sprinkler systems are running during the middle of the day (that's over 100 degrees for the 37th straight day now and worse drought that most people can remember)and their lawns are lush and emerald green and landscaping is thriving. I know these people have lawn care experts to care for their lawns. We don't. It gets some Scott's Southern Turf Builder on it 2x a year and that's it. We have 6 zones. We're on community well water and at the end of the line. Out of consideration for others AND due to lack of water pressure during heavy usage hours, I water late at night to pre-dawn...mold isn't an issue here.

We're in the country surrounded by hay fields. If my lawn is green and plants are alive, that's good enough for me and my neighbors (cows and horses) :) His next idea (for what I'm doing wrong) is our pop ups aren't "misting". Again, he sees lawns that look like their covered in a sea of fog due to the fine mist. I really think it's mostly the angle and lighting. I've tried to tell him that kind of spray gets blown away and evaporates faster and isn't the idea spray pattern. Last year our lawn looked like a golf course. I can't keep up with this summer's drought. Well I guess I could but I'm trying to be somewhat environmentally conscience and still maintain a green lawn. So, if it's common knowledge that watering in the heat of the day and "misting" aren't desirable, why are lawn professionals that take care of country clubs,golf courses and high end homes doing it?

ps...I will water during the day (not at peak usage hours tho) when the temps are mild.

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Comments (3)

mike1059
12 years ago
I've been in the landscape field for over 25 yrs. and even in the northwest we tend to water at night for all the reasons you mentioned. One thing that will help you is if you increase the times you fertilize. Keeping enough nutrients in the soil means it needs less water to stay healthy.
GeraldC
12 years ago
The best time, in general, is right before dawn. Lowest temperature and highest humidity, along with lowest wind, so less evaporation. And it's soon enough to sunup that it doesn't stay wet, as it would if watered earlier in the night, so less friendly environment for disease. The absolutely ideal time would be during a light summer rain before dawn. (The light rain doesn't contribute much water, but it pretty well prevents any evaporation at all.)

I see plenty of commercial landscape being automatically watered during the day and plenty running water down the street, all of them supposedly maintained by "professionals." But the "professional" is likely just a guy with a trailer full of mowers and trimmers and some knotheads to run them and who can do the work cheap. And just because there's someone tending the landscape doesn't mean they control the sprinkers.

And you know what. I'd bet a small sum that he doesn't really see all that many systems running during the day. That's the sort of bogus claim you hear from a bombastic know-it-all who will say anything to be righter than you. (Of course, there's no one like that in East Texas, is there. Ha!)
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lehua49
12 years ago
M,

Here is my $0.02 worth. I agree with Mike and GC. Here are three more observations. One, Golf Courses do not water during the day. Customers are playing Golf. They start the sprinklers after the last round and go through the nite. Two,if sprinklers come on at nite, they soak the burglars or any one else/thing prowling your yard. Third, the only down side to watering is the noise from your system disturbing you or your neighbors from a pleasant restful sleep. The reason for early morning watering is that the water will not have leached through the root zone and is present when the sun rises and the plants start sucking up the pore water. JMHO Aloha