As professional lawn care service providers in Dallas, Premier Dallas Landscaping understands the challenges posed by the increasingly dry summer months. Dallas experiences scorching heat and less rainfall during the period between July and September, leading to a higher demand for our regular lawn maintenance services. To avoid the panic of dying lawns, we recommend proper lawn irrigation techniques to keep your lawn green and healthy throughout the dry season.
From our clients for Lower Greenville lawn mowing and edging services to regular Preston Hollow lawn and landscaping maintenance, Dallas residences have adequate early year rainfall, but the summer months still require supplemental irrigation for grass to grow healthily. Warm-season grasses like Bermuda grass, St. Augustine grass, Zoysia grass, and centipede grass can survive dry periods and rebound when favorable conditions return. During dormancy, the plants stop growing leaves and shoots, causing the existing turf to turn brown. However, the plants usually don't die, and new growth will occur once adequate water returns. However, supplemental irrigation is necessary for turf affected by or recovering from pest damage, disease, insects, or excessive weed growth.
Whether you are one of our East Dallas lawn care service clients or an Oak Lawn full service landscaping client, you will want to keep your lawn green throughout the summer months, therefore it's crucial to irrigate it properly. The preferable method is to thoroughly wet the soil down to a depth of 5 inches. For sandy soil, it may take half an inch of water to wet the soil down to 5 inches, while 1-1/2 inches of water may be necessary for clay soil. Once the soil is thoroughly wet to a depth of 5 inches, any additional water will drain below the root zone. Dallas lawns require about an inch of water a week to remain green during the summer months, which can be achieved by setting a rain gauge or open-mouthed can outside and measuring combined rainfall and irrigation water.
The soil's condition beneath the grass or sod affects how much effort is required to maintain a lawn. Poor soil placed below the sod during construction may be very hard and make water penetration difficult. Slight wilting, a color change to a more grayish or bluish-green shade, or foot printing are indications that irrigation is necessary to maintain a green lawn. Deep, infrequent irrigations cause plants to develop deep, strong root systems that can extract water from a much larger volume of soil than the shallow roots associated with light, frequent irrigation. Any Dallas Lawn care service company like Premier Dallas Landscaping will tell you this means that watering once or twice a week is more effective than watering a little bit every day.
Watering in the early morning hours from 4 am to 8 am is the most efficient time to water lawns as less water is lost to evaporation due to lower temperatures and less sunlight. On the other hand, watering after 8 am wastes a lot of water, costing the homeowner and doing little for the grass. Up to fifty percent of the water used for irrigation during the hours of 10 am and 6 pm may be lost to evaporation, thereby spending money on water that never gets to the root system of the grass. Watering in the evening during the spring and fall should also be avoided as it may favor the growth and development of turf grass diseases.
So follow the recommendations of a Dallas professional lawn maintenance service and remember that minimal lawn irrigation is necessary in spring until May, but during the summer months, adding 1 to 1-1/2 inches of water per week (minus any rainfall) is crucial to keep your lawn healthy. Keep the intervals between irrigation as long as possible, water in early morning hours for the greatest efficiency, and consider whether lawn irrigation is necessary in your situation. By following these tips, you can keep your lawn healthy and green throughout the dry season.
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