Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
The drought that persists throughout Utah and the west has affected almost every aspect of daily lives including the way people water their yards. Hotter and drier than normal conditions have certainly had an impact on landscapes and the expectations of how lawns should look.
People enjoy green lawns and lush landscapes. With drought conditions persisting, Utah residents must continue to manage water wisely and reduce use. One bit of good information in that regard is that from a plant health perspective, there is generally little need to water in October.
On occasion, Utah has very warm, dry October weather where some irrigation is needed. However, most years October requires no extra irrigation for landscape plant health and appearance.
Here are three reasons:
The weather is typically cooler and wetter
On an average year, most turf only needs a couple of water episodes in October to meet its growth and health needs. There is usually sufficient natural precipitation in October to meet these water needs. As temperatures drop, the demand for water decreases and water in the soil stays longer.
Natural precipitation typically provides all that is needed for grass to thrive and grow as it prepares for winter. This is also a great time to fertilize the lawn in preparation for winter and for a nice green start in spring. Just make sure that if you are fertilizing you watch the weather and apply it just before a rainstorm to get the fertilizer into the ground.
Cool-season Utah lawns need less water to stay green in fall
About 90% of grass in Northern Utah is cool-season grass. This means it grows better at the cooler times of the year, spring and fall. When it gets hot, the grass requires additional water to stay green. If the water needs aren't sufficient the grass shuts down and turns brown. This is a dormant condition (usually mistaken for grass death) that continues until cooler, wetter conditions arrive.
Normal stress encourages deep roots
Many people successfully maintain healthy, green lawns while only watering once or twice a week even during the hottest parts of the year. Their lawns are trained to be more water-wise because they have always watered less frequently, especially during the cooler parts of the year.
Allowing as much time as possible to pass in between watering encourages roots to dig deep into the ground to find water that is available in the soil. The deeper the roots, the more moisture (or soil water reservoir) is available to those plants. Lawns used to once or twice weekly water have deep root systems compared to those that receive water every day or even every other day.
Frequently watered lawns have shallow roots that quickly dry out in hot weather. A shallow-rooted lawn will struggle if you don't water often or if there are water restrictions during dry years like this.
It can be difficult to encourage deep roots during the hot part of the year if grass roots are shallow. But encouraging deep roots when it cools off can be easier since the grass doesn't need much water to keep it green. Dialing back watering in September and then cutting it off completely in October encourages grass roots to grow deep roots, making it more water efficient.
Many factors such as soil type need to be considered in irrigation frequency, but for the most part, less frequent and deeper irrigation creates the healthiest lawns.
During drought years, watering restrictions or early shut-off of secondary water systems can force people to do things with landscape irrigation that actually benefit the plants in the long term. Landscapes recover from the summer heat and need no extra irrigation to achieve it.
Conserving during the spring and fall can save huge amounts of water that will help stretch the water supply, while still maintaining the quality, health and appearance of the landscapes Utah residents love.
Conserving water in the landscape is more important than ever and it can be done while keeping landscape plants healthy and saving lots of water.
There are many ways to conserve other than simply not watering and we all water users should take advantage of educational resources that can help you have drought tolerant, attractive landscapes that can thrive even when there are restrictions or water shortages.
Check the Weber Basin Water Conservancy website at www.weberbasin.com for more information about programs, free landscape classes and other conservation-related items.
