Volumes have been written about lawn care, but turf grass is injured by too much water more often than by not enough water.
There is a parallel between the human race and grass. Most of us will take the easy way out; the same applies to our lawns. If you water every other day, the grass thinks, "I will drink again tomorrow. Why bother to make long, thick roots and work hard?" On the other hand, if you water less frequently but apply more, the grass will produce a deeper, healthy root system, and your water bill will decrease. So everyone wins.
The consensus is that you should apply one inch of water about every week in the summer. But how do you measure one inch of water? The solution was pointed out to me recently, and it is so simple that is upsetting that I hadn't thought of it myself: place several containers throughout your yard and turn on your hose/sprinkler system, set a timer, and watch the water. At the one-inch level, you will know how long you must water to apply one inch of water to your grass. This is also a good way to determine how to schedule your sprinklers in case you have run-off before one inch is applied.
Reni Brown, Smith County Master Gardener
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