Lawn watering often represents the largest amount of outdoor residential water use during the summer. About 50 percent of the water applied to lawns, however, is wasted. Most lawns could be maintained at equal quality with less than half as much water through more efficient watering and lawn management. Weather, soil, mowing and fertilizing all effect the water need of turfgrass, but the kind of grass, its use, thatch management, pest control and most other lawn care practices also have an effect.
The first step in reducing the amount of water used for the lawn is to assess all aspects of the growing conditions and the lawn care program. Changing the kind of grass may be in order but that alone will not have a large effect without a good management program. Establishing a new lawn requires considerably more water than maintaining mature grass.
The best time to start water conserving lawn care program is at the beginning of the season. A lawn can be prepared in the spring for low water use in the summer, so plan ahead. Any changes made during severely hot weather when the lawn is under heat stress will be detrimental to the turf.
Warm Season
It’s been decades since Wichita has experienced a devastating drought that occured between 2010 and 2013. This drought left it’s legacy: water will cost everyone a lot more money, causing many changes in the way we manage our landscape. There are only two water sources:
- City Water: Homeowners relying completely for water from the city have been affected the most. Changes will continue. Rates have gone up and will continue. There is a good chance restrictions could come someday.
- Well Water: Except for the cost of the well, water has been free for well owners. It would be unrealistic to expect this to continue. Many wells have dried up, or water levels have dropped requiring well owners to dig deeper. Eventually meters on all wells will be required; this is already the case for wells irrigating more than two acres.
Days of indiscriminate copious use of water will eventually come to an end in Wichita. Whether it was your choice or not, having a warm season lawn is one of the most significant ways to save water. Lawn watering represents the largest amount of outdoor residential water use during summer. Warm season grasses (bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, buffalograss) not only require much less water to stay green during the hot/dry Wichita summers, but their shorter season means much less water use as well. All the way around warm season lawns use a fraction of water to be attractive.
Not only do warm season lawns require much less water to have a nice lawn, but if a scenario forces a warm season lawn owner not to water, then chances are your lawn will only go dormant. Fescue lawns owners will end up with possibly a lot of expensive repair work. Though a warm season lawn can sustain damage in extreme drought, more than likely it will only go dormant and green back up next summer with the return of moisture. This means a double water saving benefit to having a warm season lawn.
The economic and environmental benefits of a warm season lawn are significant. CustomWise Turf & Tree strongly encourages all homeowners with warm season grass to keep and maintain this important asset by following these suggestions:
- If you ever become tempted to kill out your warm season lawn and replace it with a fescue: DON’T! Cool season lawns are much more expensive and difficult to maintain than warm season lawns. It’s a sad fact that 1,000’s of warm season lawns in Wichita have been killed out over the last 30 years, and replaced with fescue for no important reason, other than it was just popular.
- Do everything you can to keep as much sunlight on your lawn as possible. Yes, shade is very beneficial to humans during hot summer weather – so keep the shade on your house, driveway, and deck/patio, but not on your lawn. Warm season grasses have absolutely no shade tolerance: You will only end up with dead areas in shade that will require alternative landscaping. It is important to continually keep trees trimmed back.
- Be careful when landscaping and planting trees. Planting with a plan can add important shade where it’s needed, and enhance your property – planting indiscriminately will only cause big dead areas in your lawn.
- Do not water when your warm season grass is dormant, as this only encourages weeds. Only water when your lawn is actively growing, when it’s over 90° degrees, and when we are not receiving rain. During extreme hot weather, you can keep a warm season lawn green by soaking one to three times a week. Do not water buffalo.
- Scalping and/or dethatching a warm season lawn in spring before applying preemegent, and aerating a warm season lawn growing in heavy clay in June can both help make watering more effective.
CustomWise is always available as a resource to help you come up with ways to save water and maintain your important investment.
Cool Season
It’s been decades since Wichita has experienced a devastating drought that occured between 2010 and 2013. This drought left it’s legacy: water will cost everyone a lot more money, causing many changes in the way we manage our landscape. There are only two water sources:
- City Water: Homeowners relying completely for water from the city have been affected the most. Changes will continue. Rates have gone up and will continue. There is a good chance restrictions could come someday.
- Well Water: Except for the cost of the well, water has been free for well owners. It would be unrealistic to expect this to continue. Many wells have dried up, or water levels have dropped requiring well owners to dig deeper. Eventually meters on all wells will be required; this is already the case for wells irrigating more than two acres.
Days of indiscriminate copious use of water will eventually come to an end in Wichita. Homeowners with cool season grasses and/or a lot of water using landscape will be faced with difficult decisions. It has always been a core tenet that CustomWise Turf & Tree uses the least amount of pesticide to manage pests in your lawn and landscape. This is called Integrated Pest Management (I.P.M.). Now we must consider something more important: Integrated Water Management (I.W.M.).
Listed below are 5 strategies:
- Do nothing- carry on. There are many fescue purists who will resist change. Continue to water as you have. This will become very expensive for city water users. Well owners may not have to be concerned – for now.
- For fescue purists who may not be able to water (If there are restrictions), then your option is to: water when you can and accept damage and repair in fall. You may have to do this most years. CustomWise offers a variety of services to repair your lawn.
- A significant number of cool season lawns have warm season grasses encroaching into them. For many, this has been a problem. CustomWise suggests taking a different view, and welcome warm season grass to take over sunny areas of your lawn. This approach is more drought tolerant and requires less water.
- If you don’t have warm season grass in your lawn, planting some in sunny areas, and allowing it to spread, can help save water (Note: Homeowners living in covenant areas may not be able to do this – check with your Homeowners Association).
- The most dramatic way to reduce water use, and still have a lawn, is to change to warm season grass. They require a fraction of water compared to fescue, and if you don’t water, they only go dormant. It is expensive to convert, and you must have sun on your lawn at least 80% of the day. Warm season grasses will not grow in shade.
Regardless of drought or water restrictions, getting a cool season lawn through a Wichita summer has always been a challenge. Enclosed is additional information from K.S.U to save water. The link above is the watering information I’ve provided for 20 years. This water schedule is to keep a fescue lawn green through summer but this may not be an option for everyone. CustomWise is always available as a resource to work with you to come up with ways for you to save water… and remember we offer seeding services to repair your cool season lawn in fall.
Use Grasses That Require Less Water
Warm season grasses (bermudagrass, zoysiagrass and buffalograss) require less water than cool season grasses (bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass). Keep in mind that warm season grasses do not grow well in shade and most lawns have areas shaded by trees, buildings and landscape construction. When nature is left to take its own course, warm season grasses will dominate the sunny areas and cool season grasses will dominate the shady areas. Although people sometimes object to the patchy look of two different kinds of grass, the total water use will be reduced.
Cool season grasses green up earlier in the spring and stay green later in the fall, a desirable characteristic. A longer growing season, though, means a longer watering season. Cool season grasses also require more water than warm season grasses during hot weather. Therefore, having a water conserving turf may require some compromise in appearance.
Using Native Grasses
An Increased interest in using native grasses for lawns has developed in recent years due to the low water and maintenance requirements and naturalistic look of these grasses. Most native grasses are warm season and must be planted in areas that receive full sunlight. Buffalograss is the most common native grass used for turfgrass. It grows best in areas with less than 25 inches of annual rainfall.
Once established, native grasses should be watered and fertilized very sparingly or not at all. Watering and fertilizing native grasses as much as regular lawngrasses causes them to become weedy and the low maintenance aspect is lost. Often people want the low maintenance of a native grass and the look of a high quality lawngrasss, but unfortunately this is not realistic.
| Turfgrass | Drought Resistance |
|---|---|
| Bermuda Grass | excellent |
| Buffalograss | excellent |
| Zoysiagrass | good |
| Tall fescue | fair |
| Bluegrass | poor |
| Ryegrass | poor |
One must consider if the site is suitable for growing native grasses and if the natural look fits the surroundings. Under suitable conditions native grasses can save water and maintenance, but cost of seed is high and watering is generally required to get them established. Weeds are the major problem in establishing native grasses for a lawn.