An automatic sprinkler system is a great and easy way to give your lawn just the right amount of water for its needs.
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Did you know that you use more water over the summer than you do for the rest of the year? According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), homeowners use two to four times more water during the summer due to lawn and landscape watering.
You can save money on your water bills as well as conserve the precious natural resource by cutting back on your outdoor water use over the summer.
3 Money-Saving Tips to Reduce Your Outdoor Water Use This Summer
There are many ways to save water during the summer and you don’t have to sacrifice your curb appeal to do it.
Here are three tips for lowering your summer outdoor water use:
1. Get an underground sprinkler system
If you want to save water, an outdoor irrigation system designed to save water is a great addition. An underground irrigation system calibrated with timers, a moisture sensor, and other tools to shut off the water when the soil is moist or when it starts to rain can be super helpful for keeping your lawn healthy and your water use down.
If an installed sprinkler system is not an option in your yard, then investing in soaker hoses is another way to give your lawn a deep soak.
Set up soaker hoses throughout your yard and turn them on for one hour. Don’t forget to set a timer, though, to remind you to turn off the water.
Remember, when it does come time to water your lawn, a daily sprinkle will not help irrigate the grass. Instead, your goal should be to soak your yard so that water absorbs into the ground by one foot, or at the very least, 6”- 8”.
A rain gauge is a great tool to see how much rain water your lawn is getting throughout the summer.
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2. Weather plays a large role in outdoor water usage over the summertime
Your lawn can use up to 125 gallons of water on a sunny day with low humidity. Not only that, but if you have the wrong grass in the wrong place, it can soak up even more water. Despite these realities you can still conserve water.
Your lawn only needs 1”- 2” of water per week, including any rain that falls in that time. To keep track of how much water you need to give the grass type in your lawn, pick up a rain gauge the next time you visit your hardware store.
Plus, if you keep your grass healthy with the right lawn care products and soil amendments, it will develop deep roots to find water during the hottest, most windy day.
Aerating your lawn not only strengthens and thickens your grass, but it allows grass to effectively use and absorb nutrients including water.
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3. Healthy soil composition to keep water in the ground longer
Healthy soil is the key to a beautiful lawn. The composition of your soil is a big factor in how well your lawn will fair during the summer.
For example, clay soil has small air pockets and holds moisture for a long period of time. It also compacts faster and prevents grass from growing deep root systems.
To fix a problem such as this, you can add soil amendments and aerate your lawn to allow water and oxygen to penetrate the ground. Correcting soil composition to make it more porous allows grass roots to grow deeper. Taking steps like this to care for your soil will have great benefits for your lawn, improving its ability to retain water in the heat of the summer.
Following any or all of these money-saving water usage tips should help to improve your lawn's overall health and save you money on your water bills this summer.