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Watering Tips for Your Northern Virginia Lawn

Watering Your Northern Virginia Lawn

The way in which you should water your Arlington, Leesburg, or Oakton lawn all depends on the season, grass type, and soil type. Your lawn needs enough water, nutrients and air to grow. If you water too much, the soil will be saturated to the point where grass roots lack air and cannot grow; but if you don't water enough, you can dry out the grass, roots, and soil, leading to your lawn turning dormant or even dying. Read on for a number of tips to consider when deciding how much and when to water your Northern Virginia lawn.

• As a general rule of thumb, a lawn needs about one inch of water per week to maintain active growth and health
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• Decide between either watering your lawn consistently during the summer or letting it go dormant as conditions turn dry - but do not do both. Never let your grass turn brown, water it enough to turn green, and then allow it to go brown and dormant again. Stick with one path.
• Look for foot printing after walking across your lawn. If the lawn grasses do not pop back up, your lawn is in drought condition.
• Avoid too-frequent watering, which will increase the presence of weeds and lead to shallow root systems.
• Try not to water at night, when water will sit on the grass and contribute to lawn disease. Try to water as early in the day as possible and avoid midday watering due to excessive evaporation.
• Pay attention to the weather forecast and don't water the lawn if rain is expected soon.
• Do not heavily water your lawn after fertilizing, but instead use light watering to allow the fertilizer to settle into the soil and not be washed away.
• Probe the soil to see how moist or dry it is and determine if it is receiving enough water. Use a narrow screwdriver and push it into the ground in several places. If you are able to push the screwdriver about six inches into the soil, then your soil is property saturated.
• Water less in times of cooler temperatures, abundant shade, humidity, and high rainfall.

For more lawn and landscaping tips for your Gainesville, Fairfax, or Vienna home, contact Second Nature, Inc. Located in Linden, Virginia, Second Nature, Inc. specializes in landscape design and construction, serving the entire Northern Virginia and Washington DC area.