What About Those Lawn Watering Restrictions?
You have enriched your soil with all the proper nutrients, over-seeded where necessary, added mulch and even purchased a reel lawn mower. But to your chagrin, you haven’t even needed to get your reel mower out of the shed, due to a lack of rain. Your city has imposed lawn watering restrictions, and as a result your grass is suffering. So what is the answer to dealing with a lack of rain? Can anything be done that not only makes for a luxuriant landscape but is also environmentally helpful? As there has been much debate over proper management of our natural resources, several states have put together a plan for drought conditions and lawn watering restrictions.
While specific lawn watering restrictions vary by region, state, and city, here are a few that have been imposed across the US.
Lawn Watering Restrictions across the United States |
|
Restriction |
State(s) |
| A one day a week watering schedule | Florida |
| In cases where new grass has been planted, it can be watered daily the first 15 days but only every other day the next 15 days | Florida |
| Lawn watering with a sprinkler or micro-irrigation system must be done either before 8am or after 6pm | Florida |
| May 1st to Sept. 30th – residents in many US cities can only water their lawns every other day- those with even numbered address on even dates of the month and those with odd address on the odd | Texas, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee |
| Lawn water restrictions are in effect from 10a-5p-lawn watering prohibited | Minnesota |
Areas with particularly stringent lawn water restrictions are those in desert regions of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Nevada. However, just because you are is under lawn watering restrictions, you don’t have to resign yourself to an uninviting lawn. There are a number of things you can do to maintain your green yard, without being guilty of breaking your town’s lawn water restrictions.
Lawn Watering Restrictions—Yard Saving Tips:
- Water less often, slowly reducing the amount of water – this keeps the grass from being “stress-out” and conditioned if a total ban is established.
- Minimize activity (walking, playing games, etc..) on the grass.
- Let the grass grow longer – decreases the amount of moisture lost from soil.
- Water your lawn between 4 and 6 am, unless prohibited by lawn watering restrictions; however, it is best not to water every day.
- Aerate your soil to allow for circulation of air and moisture.
- During times of drought, do not apply nitrogen-rich fertilizer as they require more growth and extra water.
- Wetting agents – aka surfactant is a compound that helps the soil absorb water more readily because it releases the water’s surface tension and causes beading and puddling.
During times of drought, lawn water restrictions most commonly result in your grass turning yellow or brown. Fortunately, dormancy is not detrimental to your yard—unless it exceeds 8 weeks. In cases of extreme drought, you may need to accept the inevitable and plan to re-seed your yard the following season.
