Keeping your lawn thick, green and healthy means doing several things right. One of the most important is making sure there’s enough moisture to maintain growth. Unfortunately we can not depend on nature’s rainfall. Some additional watering is almost always necessary.

Lawns turn brown, thin out, and are prone to more disease and insect problems when they lack water. A thin lawn also creates room for weeds to invade. Here are a few basic guidelines to follow to avoid these problems and maintain a good healthy lawn.

• TIMING IS KEY—Water your lawn when the least amount will lost. Avoid watering in the heat of the day, this ensures that your water goes down to the roots instead of being evaporated. Also watering on windy days, could benefit your neighbor’s lawn instead of yours.
• SOAK THE ROOTS—When you water, be sure to saturate the soil. A good rule of thumb is to water 1 inch, one time per week. It is better to water longer, less often. Frequent, shallow watering causes the grass roots to stay close to the surface in their search for water. This is not good, because grass with roots closer to the surface suffer more quickly during dry hot spells.