When and How Much to Water

Lawns should be watered about every four days.  Soil texture determines the actual frequency.  Sandy soil needs to be watered more often.

Here's a simple way to determine how much to water your lawn:

1. Place three or more coffee-type cans at various locations on your lawn.

2. Turn on your sprinkler for 15 minutes

3. Turn off the sprinkler (s), then measure the depth of water in each can with a ruler, and average the measurements.

4. Use the Homeowner Lawn Watering Guide below to determine the amount of time to water.

Here's an example:
If you measure 1/2 inch of water in your cans, then you should water each spot in your lawn every four days.

Spring: 23 minutes     Summer: 29 minutes     Fall: 17 minutes

The amount of rainfall during a four-day interval will change the amount of water needed.  Abnormal cloudiness or hot winds will also cause variations from the average.

Homeowner Lawn Watering Guide
Depth caught in 15 minutes

Time in minutes to water every four days

Lawn Care

The best way to cut down on your water bill is to cut down on your outdoor water use.  This can best be accomplished by focusing on lawn care.  Watering lawns in the summer uses up a great deal of water.  Here are a number of suggestions that can help you cut down on your lawn watering:

• Plan your lawn. Draw a plan of your house and lot. Plan part of your yard as a private area.

• Improve the soil. Test your soil and only use the nutrients that are needed.  A mail-in soil test kit is available at the Gloucester County Office Building on Delsea Drive.   Call 863-0110 for information.  Make sure you check the pH of your soil.  Most of Gloucester County has soil pH of 4.5 and it limits what will grow in the soil.  Lime applications can raise soil pH to 6.5 to 7.0 making more nutrients available.  This can make the lawn more drought tolerant.

• Reduce grass area.   Cut beds into your lawn to reduce the amount of grass.  Use drought resistance plants in those beds.  Use drought tolerant grass such as tall fescue or zoysia grass.   Consult a lawn care professional for information.

• Increase mulch area.   A larger mulch area helps lower water demand, cuts down on thirsty weeds, and prevents evaporation.

• Plant low water-demand plants.  Choose from the following list.

Selection Guide to Drought-Tolerant Plants

Obtain a copy of Landscaping for Water Conservation: A Guide for New Jersey by Theodore Shelton, Ph.D. & Bruce Hamilton, Ph.D.  For this and other related publications contact one of the following:

For Further Information

Contact the South Jersey RC&D Council at (609) 561-3223 or at www.sjrcd.org for booklets concerning water conservation.

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