Sign In
Water Tips
Lawn Care for Conservation
If you find that your lawn dries out quickly and needs more frequent watering than other lawns in your neighborhood, there are ways to minimize waterings.
Learn more at Yard Care
If you find that your lawn dries out quickly and needs more frequent watering than other lawns in your neighborhood, there are ways to minimize waterings.
- Cut the grass no shorter than about 2”. This helps reduce evaporative water loss and increases drought resistance.
- Recycle your grass clippings back into your lawn by using a mulching mower. This reduces evaporation, adds nutrients, and you’ll save time while mowing.
- Aerate your lawn yearly. It prevents soil compaction and greatly reduces run-off from the lawn.
- Improving your soil can also help reduce your watering needs. Try topdressing your soil with organic material. Then work it into the soil using an aerator (with a core cultivator). Organic material helps your soil hold water longer.
- Keep chemicals off your lawn. Organic lawns require less watering than chemically-treated lawns.
- Allow your lawn to temporarily brown out, or go dormant, when drought conditions persist. Usually this will not hurt a healthy, established lawn because the roots continue to live and are ready to send forth new shoots when conditions improve. There may be times during the year when it's just not worth trying to keep your lawn green. (Note: You should continue to water lawns less than a year old through dry spells.)
Learn more at Yard Care
Landscaping for Conservation
Your landscape design also can impact water waste.
Learn more at the Southern Nevada Water Authority
Your landscape design also can impact water waste.
- Narrow strips of lawn less than 10 feet by 10 feet, grass in curving areas, and grass on slopes are difficult to water efficiently. A possible solution is to remove turf from the edges of slopes and replace it with shrubs or groundcover to buffer run-off.
- Use plants that are native to your area. Plants from “wetter” climates waste tremendous amounts of water, and may pose a threat to the local environment.
- Group your plants according to their water needs to make watering the right amount easier.
Learn more at the Southern Nevada Water Authority
How to Water Trees
Learn more at Yard Care
- Cut turf (grass) back at least one foot from the trunks of trees. Watering the trunks wastes water and promotes rot on the tree trunk.
- Create catch basins around trees, especially those on slopes. This minimizes runoff and allows water the time needed get down in to the roots.
- Water trees separately from surrounding plant areas. Trees like long, slow watering. Mature trees generally need to be watered to a depth of 24 inches.
Learn more at Yard Care
How Much to Water
To determine how much water your lawn needs, you need to consider several factors: the depth of your grass roots, your soil type, your irrigation method, and of course, the weather. First, check to see how deep the roots of your grass grow. Add an inch to the average root depth to arrive at a target watering depth. Next, determine how much water is needed to moisten soil to the root zone. A good rule of thumb for most grasses is one to two inches per week. If you have porous soil that drains quickly, you would apply one inch of water twice a week. Conversely, if your soil holds water well, a good guess would be 1-1/2 to 2 inches once a week.
Learn more at Yard Care
To determine how much water your lawn needs, you need to consider several factors: the depth of your grass roots, your soil type, your irrigation method, and of course, the weather. First, check to see how deep the roots of your grass grow. Add an inch to the average root depth to arrive at a target watering depth. Next, determine how much water is needed to moisten soil to the root zone. A good rule of thumb for most grasses is one to two inches per week. If you have porous soil that drains quickly, you would apply one inch of water twice a week. Conversely, if your soil holds water well, a good guess would be 1-1/2 to 2 inches once a week.
Learn more at Yard Care
When to Water
Try to give your lawn the water it needs--and no more. This moderate approach conserves an important resource, saves money, and helps prevent grass diseases caused by too much water. The best approach to watering grass (and most other plants) is to follow nature's pattern of rainy periods followed by brief dry spells. Grass signals that it needs water by losing its spring: When you walk across the lawn and see your footprints, your lawn probably needs to be watered. As a general rule, lawns only need watering every 5 to 7 days in the summer and every 10 to 14 days in the winter. A heavy rain eliminates the need for watering for as long as two weeks. Make sure you only water when the sun is down to reduce evaporation losses. Many irrigation experts feel the best time to water is between midnight and 6 a.m. because evaporation is kept to a minimum.
Learn more at Yard Care
Try to give your lawn the water it needs--and no more. This moderate approach conserves an important resource, saves money, and helps prevent grass diseases caused by too much water. The best approach to watering grass (and most other plants) is to follow nature's pattern of rainy periods followed by brief dry spells. Grass signals that it needs water by losing its spring: When you walk across the lawn and see your footprints, your lawn probably needs to be watered. As a general rule, lawns only need watering every 5 to 7 days in the summer and every 10 to 14 days in the winter. A heavy rain eliminates the need for watering for as long as two weeks. Make sure you only water when the sun is down to reduce evaporation losses. Many irrigation experts feel the best time to water is between midnight and 6 a.m. because evaporation is kept to a minimum.
Learn more at Yard Care
How Long Should You Run Your Sprinkler?
To determine how long you should run your sprinkler to deliver the desired amount of water, wait for a four- to five-day dry spell to run a simple test. After the 4-5 days, simply set out some empty cans in various locations on the lawn. Run your sprinkler or in-ground sprinkler system until the cans contain 1 inch of water (marking the inside of the can with a marker or tape may help). Next, wait twenty-four hours to allow the water to penetrate the soil (12 hours if your soil is porous--porous soil drains faster) and check the depth of the moisture penetration. If one inch of water moistens soil to a depth well beyond the root depth, try the procedure again after your soil has dried, but turn off the sprinkler sooner. Conversely, if the root depth is not reached, try delivering more water. Keep a record of how long you need to run your sprinkler or sprinkler system at different times of the year, and base future waterings on what you have learned from your observations. If you water your lawn manually, invest in a timer. Even if it's just a kitchen timer, you can be certain that you won’t forget to turn off the sprinkler.
Learn more at Yard Care
To determine how long you should run your sprinkler to deliver the desired amount of water, wait for a four- to five-day dry spell to run a simple test. After the 4-5 days, simply set out some empty cans in various locations on the lawn. Run your sprinkler or in-ground sprinkler system until the cans contain 1 inch of water (marking the inside of the can with a marker or tape may help). Next, wait twenty-four hours to allow the water to penetrate the soil (12 hours if your soil is porous--porous soil drains faster) and check the depth of the moisture penetration. If one inch of water moistens soil to a depth well beyond the root depth, try the procedure again after your soil has dried, but turn off the sprinkler sooner. Conversely, if the root depth is not reached, try delivering more water. Keep a record of how long you need to run your sprinkler or sprinkler system at different times of the year, and base future waterings on what you have learned from your observations. If you water your lawn manually, invest in a timer. Even if it's just a kitchen timer, you can be certain that you won’t forget to turn off the sprinkler.
Learn more at Yard Care
Drip Irrigation
The typical single-family suburban household uses at least 30% of their water outdoors for irrigation. Some experts estimate that more than 50% of landscape water use goes to waste due to evaporation or runoff caused by overwatering. Drip irrigation systems use between 20 to 50% less water than conventional in-ground sprinkler systems. They are also much more efficient than conventional sprinklers because no water is lost to wind, runoff, and evaporation. If your in-ground system uses 100,000 gallons annually, you could potentially save more than 200,000 gallons over the lifetime of a drip irrigation system should you choose to install one. That adds up to savings of at least $1,150 a year!
Learn more at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The typical single-family suburban household uses at least 30% of their water outdoors for irrigation. Some experts estimate that more than 50% of landscape water use goes to waste due to evaporation or runoff caused by overwatering. Drip irrigation systems use between 20 to 50% less water than conventional in-ground sprinkler systems. They are also much more efficient than conventional sprinklers because no water is lost to wind, runoff, and evaporation. If your in-ground system uses 100,000 gallons annually, you could potentially save more than 200,000 gallons over the lifetime of a drip irrigation system should you choose to install one. That adds up to savings of at least $1,150 a year!
Learn more at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Smart Irrigation
“Smart” sprinkler controllers reduce outdoor water use by monitoring and using information about site conditions, such as soil moisture, rain, wind, slope, soil, plant type, and more. The controllers apply the right amount of water based on those factors in order to maintain healthy growing conditions. If significant rainfall occurs, rain sensors compensate by reducing the amount of water as appropriate. If you have a soil type that absorbs water very slowly or a property with steep slopes, “smart” controllers will use that information and apply less water, more frequently, to minimize run-off.
Learn more at the Irrigation Association
“Smart” sprinkler controllers reduce outdoor water use by monitoring and using information about site conditions, such as soil moisture, rain, wind, slope, soil, plant type, and more. The controllers apply the right amount of water based on those factors in order to maintain healthy growing conditions. If significant rainfall occurs, rain sensors compensate by reducing the amount of water as appropriate. If you have a soil type that absorbs water very slowly or a property with steep slopes, “smart” controllers will use that information and apply less water, more frequently, to minimize run-off.
Learn more at the Irrigation Association
Xeriscaping - Landscaping with Drought-Resistant Plants
Xeriscaping refers to the conservation of water through creative landscaping with plants that are adapted to dry conditions. Originally developed for drought-afflicted areas, the principles of xeriscape today have an ever broadening appeal. With water now considered an expensive and limited resource, all landscaping projects - residential or commercial - can benefit from this alternative. Xeriscapes do not have a single look - almost any landscaping style can be achieved. The principles can be applied to all or part of a yard, in any geographic region of North America.
Learn more at Earth Easy
Xeriscaping refers to the conservation of water through creative landscaping with plants that are adapted to dry conditions. Originally developed for drought-afflicted areas, the principles of xeriscape today have an ever broadening appeal. With water now considered an expensive and limited resource, all landscaping projects - residential or commercial - can benefit from this alternative. Xeriscapes do not have a single look - almost any landscaping style can be achieved. The principles can be applied to all or part of a yard, in any geographic region of North America.
Learn more at Earth Easy
