Lawn Watering

sammy green · 08-21-11, 08:52 PM

I am looking for creative ways to keep the lawn watered without using a sprinkler. It has been a HOT summer this year, and our yard has suffered. My husband is looking into Dallas plumbers (or whoever does that???) to install in-ground lawn sprinklers. I am very opposed to this because I feel like it is a huge waste of water. Does anyone have suggestions for reusing rainwater? I would like to get a bin to collect the rainwater we do get, but after that, I'm not sure how we could effectively use it to water lawn/plants.

iamgeo · 08-21-11, 09:23 PM

I would think that an in ground sprinkler system would be far more efficient than using a sprinkler that you have to move around.
Using rainwater and grey water is also a very good idea.

iamgeo · 08-21-11, 09:28 PM

Check this set up:
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/conser...n-barrels.html

Read this one also:
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/lawn-g...er-plants.html

A lot to read here:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Water/Water.htm

Ryland · 08-21-11, 10:45 PM

First question to ask is why do you feel you need to water your lawn? are there options for grasses or other ground cover that work well in your area without pumping clean drinkable water on to the ground?

When it comes to watering any kind of plants you need to remember that they do not soak up water from the leaves, the plant grows by wicking water up from the soil along with nutrents and uses evaporation from the leaves, so you want the soil wet and don't care so much about the top half, now with grass this does not matter as much and it's hard to use something like a soaker hose to water your lawn but what you can do is water in the coolest part of the day, 2am to sun rise, that way the water you put down soaks in instead of evaporating quickly without doing any good.
Another thing to remember is that if you have poor quality soil then the soil will dry out quickly causing the roots to dry out causing the top half of the plant to wilt and turn brown, organic matter like even a dusting of good composted dirt can increase the water holding power of the soil by as much as 10 times, also when you cut your lawn, unless you are using the grass clippings for mulch it is best to leave the clippings in the lawn, they help form a protective layer over the soil to keep it form heating up as much and drying out they also help maintain a small amount of organic matter in the soil to keep it from becoming completely dead.

If you can use rain water then great, but to cover the area of a lawn with rain water you are going to need a sprinkler of some sort and rain barrels do not have the water pressure to make that work, an RV style water pump can give you that water pressure but becomes an added cost, soaker hoses work well with rain barrels but they only water within a foot or so of either side of the hose so you either need a lot of hose or you need to move it around a lot.

S-F · 08-22-11, 06:10 PM

@Ryland,
About watering at 2 AM.

I was/am a landscaper since the 90's and have spent years seeing sprinkler systems running during the day. This always boggled my mind since I know much of it was evaporating before the roots could be properly fed. About 3 years ago I asked the owner of a lawn irrigation outfit I dealt with why people were doing this and not watering in the night. His answer was that it has been demonstrated that frequent night watering leads to rot in the roots of grass and other plants. I'm not sure I understand or buy this but I imagine there must be a modicum of truth to it if so many intelligent people are doing it...... ?

Ryland · 08-22-11, 11:28 PM

If you water at night you don't need to water for as long, so you are not putting as much water on, in other words, if you water at night for the same amount of time as you would in the day time the roots are getting so much more water that it is causing problems, but the question was how do you save water and if, lets say you figure you need to water for in hour in the day time to get enough water in to the soil, if you water for an hour at night then you are over watering because more of the water is getting in to the soil, over watering could cause root rot.

sammy green · 08-23-11, 08:43 AM

Thanks for the advice. I have heard about watering early in the morning and my husband has been setting out the sprinkler around 6 am. It would be my preference to not water at all, but I think we might be in trouble with our HOA if we let our lawn go brown. I will definitely look into pumps and other options with the rain barrel.

Phantom · 08-23-11, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammy green

It would be my preference to not water at all, but I think we might be in trouble with our HOA if we let our lawn go brown.

Then send them the water bill to keep it green, now being serious you could go with other green coverings for the lawn like clover. Where do you live your profile only says USA and that does not narrow it down so we can give region specific suggestions.

sammy green · 08-23-11, 06:43 PM

Phantom, we live in dallas.

S-F · 08-23-11, 08:44 PM

+1 on the clover. Since I live is a land where it'd be a rain forest if we didn't have a winter I can't speak for its drought hardiness but in just about every other way it's great. It fixes nitrogen, doesn't need mowing. You can keep bees. On and on. Maybe you could let the crass buy the farm and then just plant clover? I'd do it to my yard but tearing the grass out first would be to time consuming and expensive.

08-21-11, 08:52 PM	#1
sammy green Lurking Renovator Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: USA Posts: 7 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Lawn Watering I am looking for creative ways to keep the lawn watered without using a sprinkler. It has been a HOT summer this year, and our yard has suffered. My husband is looking into Dallas plumbers (or whoever does that???) to install in-ground lawn sprinklers. I am very opposed to this because I feel like it is a huge waste of water. Does anyone have suggestions for reusing rainwater? I would like to get a bin to collect the rainwater we do get, but after that, I'm not sure how we could effectively use it to water lawn/plants. Last edited by Piwoslaw; 10-14-11 at 04:25 AM.. Reason: Edited out links

08-21-11, 09:28 PM	#3
iamgeo Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Lakehills, Tx Posts: 168 Thanks: 4 Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts	Check this set up: http://ecorenovator.org/forum/conser...n-barrels.html Read this one also: http://ecorenovator.org/forum/lawn-g...er-plants.html A lot to read here: http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Water/Water.htm Last edited by iamgeo; 08-21-11 at 09:30 PM.. Reason: Added another link.

08-21-11, 10:45 PM	#4
Ryland Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Western Wisconsin. Posts: 913 Thanks: 127 Thanked 82 Times in 71 Posts	First question to ask is why do you feel you need to water your lawn? are there options for grasses or other ground cover that work well in your area without pumping clean drinkable water on to the ground? When it comes to watering any kind of plants you need to remember that they do not soak up water from the leaves, the plant grows by wicking water up from the soil along with nutrents and uses evaporation from the leaves, so you want the soil wet and don't care so much about the top half, now with grass this does not matter as much and it's hard to use something like a soaker hose to water your lawn but what you can do is water in the coolest part of the day, 2am to sun rise, that way the water you put down soaks in instead of evaporating quickly without doing any good. Another thing to remember is that if you have poor quality soil then the soil will dry out quickly causing the roots to dry out causing the top half of the plant to wilt and turn brown, organic matter like even a dusting of good composted dirt can increase the water holding power of the soil by as much as 10 times, also when you cut your lawn, unless you are using the grass clippings for mulch it is best to leave the clippings in the lawn, they help form a protective layer over the soil to keep it form heating up as much and drying out they also help maintain a small amount of organic matter in the soil to keep it from becoming completely dead. If you can use rain water then great, but to cover the area of a lawn with rain water you are going to need a sprinkler of some sort and rain barrels do not have the water pressure to make that work, an RV style water pump can give you that water pressure but becomes an added cost, soaker hoses work well with rain barrels but they only water within a foot or so of either side of the hose so you either need a lot of hose or you need to move it around a lot. Last edited by Ryland; 08-21-11 at 10:49 PM..

08-21-11, 09:23 PM	#2
iamgeo Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Lakehills, Tx Posts: 168 Thanks: 4 Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts	I would think that an in ground sprinkler system would be far more efficient than using a sprinkler that you have to move around. Using rainwater and grey water is also a very good idea.

08-22-11, 06:10 PM	#5
S-F You Ain't Me Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Northampton MA Posts: 662 Thanks: 6 Thanked 71 Times in 58 Posts	@Ryland, About watering at 2 AM. I was/am a landscaper since the 90's and have spent years seeing sprinkler systems running during the day. This always boggled my mind since I know much of it was evaporating before the roots could be properly fed. About 3 years ago I asked the owner of a lawn irrigation outfit I dealt with why people were doing this and not watering in the night. His answer was that it has been demonstrated that frequent night watering leads to rot in the roots of grass and other plants. I'm not sure I understand or buy this but I imagine there must be a modicum of truth to it if so many intelligent people are doing it...... ?

08-22-11, 11:28 PM	#6
Ryland Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Western Wisconsin. Posts: 913 Thanks: 127 Thanked 82 Times in 71 Posts	If you water at night you don't need to water for as long, so you are not putting as much water on, in other words, if you water at night for the same amount of time as you would in the day time the roots are getting so much more water that it is causing problems, but the question was how do you save water and if, lets say you figure you need to water for in hour in the day time to get enough water in to the soil, if you water for an hour at night then you are over watering because more of the water is getting in to the soil, over watering could cause root rot.

08-23-11, 08:43 AM	#7
sammy green Lurking Renovator Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: USA Posts: 7 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Thanks for the advice. I have heard about watering early in the morning and my husband has been setting out the sprinkler around 6 am. It would be my preference to not water at all, but I think we might be in trouble with our HOA if we let our lawn go brown. I will definitely look into pumps and other options with the rain barrel.

08-23-11, 06:43 PM	#9
sammy green Lurking Renovator Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: USA Posts: 7 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Phantom, we live in dallas.

08-23-11, 08:44 PM	#10
S-F You Ain't Me Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Northampton MA Posts: 662 Thanks: 6 Thanked 71 Times in 58 Posts	+1 on the clover. Since I live is a land where it'd be a rain forest if we didn't have a winter I can't speak for its drought hardiness but in just about every other way it's great. It fixes nitrogen, doesn't need mowing. You can keep bees. On and on. Maybe you could let the crass buy the farm and then just plant clover? I'd do it to my yard but tearing the grass out first would be to time consuming and expensive.