Fescue – Watering

The best time to water a lawn is in the morning, preferably before noon. This allows the grass to dry before nightfall, reducing the risk of disease. Take into account recent rainfall when deciding how much to apply. Watering restrictions may impact how often you can irrigate. Check www.georgiadrought.org for the latest information. If restrictions mandate watering every other day, the schedules below may be modified to fit the rules.

How to measure the amount of water applied by irrigation:
●Place six identical containers randomly in the area wetted by your sprinkler.
●Plastic cups can be used but weight them down with a heavy washer in the bottom of each.
●Let your sprinkler run for an hour.
●Measure the depth of water that has accumulated in each cup.
●Calculate the average of the depths. This gives you the amount (in inches) that has been applied in an hour.
●Make a mental calculation of how long it will take to apply an inch of water.
●Don’t be surprised if your sprinkler must run for more than an hour to apply the water your lawn needs.

●●Use a trowel to check how far water soaks into the soil after irrigation.
●●Heavy clay soil slowly absorbs water. If water runs off before it is absorbed, split the irrigation into two sessions an hour apart.
●●Sandy soil absorbs water rapidly but dries out quickly. Consider splitting the recommended inch of water per week into two irrigations of one-half inch of water three days apart.

WATERING IN DROUGHT
Some grasses have the ability to go dormant when suffering from drought. Fescue needs water when the leaves turn a light gray-green color and seem to curl along their length. If you walk on the grass and can clearly see your footprints behind you, the fescue is drought stressed and wilted.

Time turfgrass can go un-watered without substantial harm (weeks):

Bermudagrass 8
St. Augustinegrass 6
Seashore paspalum 6
Centipedegrass, Tall fescue 4
Zoysiagrass 4