lawn watering
 

I water my lawn twice a week for 20 minutes per zone. Should i cut it back to once a week and 20 minutes per zone for the winter?

thanks

Twice per week is good, but 20 minutes per zone is probably too much. I would cut it back to 5 or 10 minutes. Just my opinion.

Without knowing the type of sprinklers involved, you can’t offer an opinion about watering times. For example, Low flow sprinklers will put out significantly less water than rotary sprinklers.

I agree, but you can try a shorter time and see if it has a negative effect on your lawn. I cut back my watering from 20 minutes to 5 minutes and I didn't notice any effect. Now, I am considering turning the whole system off. I have a friend who doesn't even have a sprinkler system and their grass looks good.

Twice a week ,1/2 to 3/4 inch per watering, in the summer. Cut back to once per week in the winter and when cold you can cut back to less than that. I am watering once a week now and if it rains I skip a week. When it gets colder I water less than that. My sprinkler system is off at this time. I only turn it on if I think the lawn needs it. You need to water dormant grasses in the winter, at least twice a month, as the roots are still alive and need water even if the grass blades have turned all brown.

Lots of variables…..one size does not fit all. You really need to put out the cans / coffee cups on the lawn area and measure the amount of water collected after 15-20 minutes. From there you can determine how much water your sprinkler puts out per zone. From there you can tell how long you need to water given the season ; spring/summer (growing). Fall/winter (dormant). Anything more is a waste of money / natural resources.

All the water we will ever have is here already. No one can make more. Be mindful of your children and future generations.

I cut back to once a week in the winter. Run it about 13 minutes for each zone we only have 2 zones.

Rachio 3 controller. 12 - 18 month break even on cost.

I cut my watering time in half for winter. At that rate, yours would be, 10 minutes twice a week per zone.

Well, if you have a ProC or an X Core the system should make seasonal adjustments for you automatically if it is operating properly.

When I bought my house the sprinklers weren't working, yet the lawn looked great. Have never watered my lawn and it's as green as can be. Florida is an ideal growing state.

Lawn Watering
 

We have a courtyard villa with all rocks and some bushes in the back.
We have shut off the water last year and everything stays green!

1st of all it depends on what type of grass you have. Then it depends on what type of watering heads you have. St Augustine grass needs to be watered year round or it will due. Bahia, Bermuda and Zoysia grasses are ok with less watering.

I have never seen one that operated properly.

water never leaves the planet. The foulest pond water is eventually strained by mother earth that we drink daily

Watering
 

Yes, or cut the times in half. After the first frost when the lawn turns brown and goes dorment turn it off the grass won't need water.

It depends on your grass type and your soil. Everyone making suggestions likely has a different situation then your exact one.

Thus far, Happydaz has given the most accurate answer.

Know what you have and provide what it needs.

Dormant, brown grass still needs water because the roots are still alive and storing nutrients for the time the grass blades need it.

No 2x/wk 20 min / zone is fine. Just start your cycle no later / earlier than 5am or 4pm

I water all six areas for one hour each every day in June and then nothing else the rest of the year. I forgot my plan this year and tried to play catch up in August and September when we returned. No luck. I take pride in my lawn. I screwed up big time. I got a call from the water company in the Villages telling me that my water bill is going to be around $200. I did wrong I own it and it will never happen again. A beloved neighbor of ours has to have their 5 lbs yapper that waits until it arrives at our property to unload everything it has like an elephant on the first 10 feet of the lawn. I did put massive amounts of pepper there until I found out it could hurt the dog, not just drive it away.
Anyway grass down south grows where you don’t want it to grow and won’t grow where you need it to grow.

I just got even with my thoughtless neighbor. Our house is under contract and they are going to poop when they see who’s moving in. Checkmate Bro! Let your 5 pounder poop on their lawn, I know what will be on the barbecue menu that night for all 29 people living in our precious former home with 10 feet of bad lawn!

Perhaps you should talk to the Person/Company who cuts your grass for their suggestion as your neighbor next door or down the street might have very different soil conditions under their sod.
As we lived in TV for 12 years always took advice from the services we hired.

Note that water bills are public information and can be viewed by address on "districtgov.org". You may want to compare your irrigation water usage to your neighbors to see if you are using more or less than they are.

When i read the answers to your question it really made me laugh. 5 min, 10 min, no water, lol

During the summer months you need to water 1 inch of water per zone per week. The only way to know if your system is doing this is to put out a measuring device, cup, etc and check. The builder did a good job setting up the zones but you need to see how long you need to run each zone to get this 1 inch of water. Once done you can water twice a week during the summer months and once a week in the winter.

Best thing to do if you want to save money and not worry about all these changes is to get a Rachio lawn sprinkler controller. It will make all the seasonal changes for you and the payback is relatively quick.

Also after 5 years your rain sensor probably isn't working any more because the sponges dry up so you will need to replace it. $20 at Lowes for a replacement. It's unbelievable how many lawns are watered after a heavy rain because the rain sensors aren't working any longer. With the Rachio you can disconnect the rain sensor if you want because it uses the weather forcast to know if its going to rain or it did rain.

I'm sorry but I don't understand your comment. Can you elaborate? Thanks

Joe, welcome to TOTV’S. You need t hit the quote button before you ask a question like that. Nobody but you knows who you are asking to elaborate? We’re all here to help you learn the ropes.

A Different Kind of Grass
 

If we all had bahia grass, the grass that the builders mostly use in Deltona and many other communities in Florida, we wouldn't need to ever water our grass. That's the grass that you see along all the main highways. Never watered, never fertilized, just mowed. No sprinklers in those Deltona lawns. I had bahia grass in St Pete in the 60's and 70's. Beautiful lawn. No maintenance except mowing. U of Fl accepts grant money from sod industry, fertilizer industry, etc, and develops the Zoysia and st Augustine varieties that the builders are advised to use by them. Floratam as an example. Just saying. With 130,000 homes we could have saved millions of gallons of water over the years. One day it will probably be mandatory that we don't use those high maintenance grasses.

Maybe a little high. If it rains, skip a cycle

I turn mine off in the winter and my grass looks great

Lawn water_n
 

My current water_n time 20 min. Twice a week.
The irrigation spec.
Said in winter once a week is fine

Water Shortage
 

Gonna have to disagree with you…..

From National Geographic ;

Within as little as 50 years, many regions of the United States could see their freshwater supply reduced by as much as a third, warn scientists. Of all the freshwater basins that channel rain and snow into the rivers from which we draw the water we rely on for everything from drinking and cooking to washing and cleaning, nearly half may be unable to meet consumers’ monthly demands by 2071. This will mean serious water shortages for Americans.

Shortages won’t affect only the regions we’d expect to be dry: with as many as 96 out of 204 basins in trouble, water shortages would impact most of the U.S., including the central and southern Great Plains, the Southwest, and central Rocky Mountain states, as well as parts of California, the South, and the Midwest. And if 50 years seems like a long way off, the reality is much sooner: shortages could occur in 83 basins as early as 2021. With 40 out of 50 states expecting water shortages, it’s time to start thinking about where our water is going.

St Augustine grass here, 9,900 sq ft lot. Shut water off four weeks ago. My grass looks identical to my neighbors who water twice a week.

Agree ! 20 min. per zone definitely did not work out well for us, but different landscapes, difference elevations... I'd just keep a CLOSE watch... it may be working for you (meaning not get over saturated, etc.)

Amen ! ! From another south Florida family, Amen !

I wonder if we can change our grass to Bahia? I think we’ll ask ARC. We are moving in to a new home next week, and don’t want lawn at all, but since we’re stuck with it maybe we can change to this Bahia grass. Thanks for the info.

We don't have a sprinkler system. I believe that a lot of people hope to bring their soft, beautiful northern low maintenance lawns down to Florida with them. To try and recreate their northern lawn effect they overwater and over-fertilize. Then the fertilizer runs off into the residential lakes and causes problems of too much nutrients. It is better to accept that their lawns will have some brown spots during the winter and not hope for perfection.

One solution for too much water use is to plant Florida-friendly trees and have stone and wall rings around them. After the trees mature they will need zero water - and neither do the stones. Solar lights shining up the trees make for a more attractive yard than a solid grass yard and cuts down on water, fertilizer, and lawn mowing area. Those yards are less boring!

True ........about water never leaving the planet. The problem is a gradually warming planet, which causes FRESHWATER glaciers to melt and end up in the SALTWATER ocean, which is slowly rising. The Florida coastline and cities like Miami will be affected in our grandchildren's lives. So, the conservation of FRESHWATER is a legitimate concern.

No need to water?
 

Interesting! As a result, did you find less need for trimming your bushes, especially in the Summer/Spring?

Where do you live, New Jersey? What type of grass do you have?

Thousands of gallons of water leave earth due to space flights. If we don't stop these space rockets, earth will become a barren planet in like 12 years. Call your gubbermint and tell them we need space travel lockdowns.

1/2 inch (40 minutes with Hunter MP rotators) every 5 days.

After reading about Bahia grass it seems a really good alternative to present strains of grass..
Problem is the dormant period, when grass turns brown.
Will the Villages allow brown yards.
Maybe not the Stepford image the Villages would want?
Shame, as it seems a big time saver of the need for watering and fertilizing.

I set mine to 12 minutes per zone just for the heck of it and it's been like that since June. My lawn looks exactly the same as all of the adjacent lawns of my neighbors.