Search

Keeping Your Garden Alive And Well

3 Signs You Should Cut Back On Watering Your Lawn In The Summertime

29 June 2017

Soham Diaz

When the dry heat of summer hits your area, you may believe you should water your yard as often as possible to keep it from dying. However, you may be ruining your lawn in the process. Besides seeing a swamp in your yard, below are three signs that you need to cut back on watering your lawn.

Grass Turns Yellow or Brown

You may think that the more you water your grass, the more lush and green it will become. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes, overwatering your grass can have the opposite effect, turning it yellow or brown.

Just like most living things, grass needs nutrients and oxygen to thrive. When the soil in which your grass is growing becomes saturated with water, the nutrients in the dirt are washed away. Because they are no longer receiving the food they need to make chlorophyll, the blades of grass will start to yellow.

And, if you water your lawn too much, the roots of the grass start suffocating under the excess water. Eventually, the lack of oxygen to the plants will kill them and turn your grass brown.

Weeds Take Over

Another sign that you are watering your lawn way too much is that the weeds start taking over. As discussed in the previous section, the grass starts becoming weaker and unable to fight off the weeds.

Along with weaker grass, you will have some weeds that absolutely love the extra water. Weeds such as crabgrass, dandelions, and chickweed will start to flourish, choking out your grass and taking over your yard.

Mushrooms Start Sprouting

Water-loving weeds are not the only invaders you will see in your yard when you overwater the lawn. As the ground becomes more saturated and the grass starts dying, you may start to see mushrooms sprouting up, especially in shaded areas.

When the grass dies and is pushed into the ground by excess water, it starts to decompose rather quickly. The decomposing plant material along with the extra water makes an ideal growing medium for the mushrooms.

If you see any or all of the signs above, you should probably rethink the watering schedule for your lawn. You may want to contact a home and garden service to seek advice on how often to water the grass, as well as information on other landscape maintenance that should be done to keep your lawn healthy.

Share