I Can See Clearly Now (The Rain is Gone)

And, it has been. Absolutely non-existent.

I don’t believe we have had any substantial rain or perhaps any at all for the last two, possibly three weeks. Wow! Did we believe we would be saying this just a year after the flood? Mother Nature doing her thing.

Many property owners believe mid-fall is the time to stop watering their lawn because of the lack of high (hot) temperatures and the color of and slow or no-growth of the grass.

Your lawn is doing its best to get ready for winter (albeit rather short and not severe here, usually) and being hydrated and gaining what little sunshine it can is so key to it having a healthy start come next spring. It’s not dormant yet and it wants a little help.

Until we reach the first few consistent freezes you should continue to water your lawn just as you would have in the summer months, just not so often and as long.

Most of the lawn grasses in this area require about ¾ to 1 ½ inches of water per week – shoot for 1 inch a week until the freezes come. For my sprinklers this is about twice a week for 20 minutes in the morning – early evening will work or perhaps another time when your lawn is not experiencing direct sunlight.

Below we have provided a method for you to use to calculate how much your sprinkler system dispenses over time.

Of course, how long you water your lawn over a given period of time is important and this depends on a few factors, basically, the make-up of the soil and how compacted it is.

Simply walk your lawn after watering and see if you notice puddling or pooling. This may indicate you need to water less, but more often so that your lawn is being saturated, not inundated with water.

If you have an automated (timer controlled) sprinkler system, during winter you may wish to turn off the programmed schedule and use the manual feature during later November and December, of course, depending upon the weather.

The following was taken from the Clemson University Cooperative Extension (Prepared by Bob Polomski, Extension Consumer Horticulturist, and Debbie Shaughnessy, HGIC Information Specialist, Clemson University.)