Guide to Watering your Lawn

We tell you everything you need to know about watering your lawn. Follow this guide to keep a well kept lawn that is free of moss and weeds. We tell you the most efficient ways to water your lawn, and techniques to help maintain it. Looking after grass is a lot more complicated than people realise.  Most people are probably unaware how unhealthy their lawn is, most are riddled with moss, weeds, and yellow patches. Impress your friends with a perfectly kept lawn by following our tips below.

How much Water

During hot weather your lawn should receive a deep water every 3 days as a general rule of thumb.  When we say a deep watering, we mean soaking your complete lawn with a sprinkler for at least 1.5 hours each time.  Watering your lawn every 3 days, rather than every day, helps encourage your grass roots to grow deeper as they search lower down for water.

When to Water

Ideally lawns should be watered just before sunset.  Doing so will stop a majority of the water being evaporated in the direct sun. Do not be tempted to water everyday in the peak of summer as this will encourage weeds and moss to grow. When it comes to lawns, more water less often is the way to go.  

Watering Equipment

Watering a lawn can be very time consuming. There are many irrigation options out there, but which is best? Well, that depends on the size of your lawn.

Pop Up Sprinklers (Stationary)

As the name suggests, these sprinklers pop up from the ground when the water supply is turned on. They are also designed to be stationary, which means they must be buried within your lawn shy of the surface. Usually these are seen in large garden. There would be a network of pop up sprinklers connected via hoses underground.

Rain bird Pop-up Sprinkler from the Amazon Store

View the pop up sprinkler below on the amazon store. It has an 8 – 15 feet spray distance, within a 0 -360 degree pattern.

Advantages of pop up sprinklers:

• Once the pop up sprinkler system has been installed it will save you a lot of time. They can be hooked up to an automatic timer, which means you can program pop up sprinkler system to water your garden even when you are out!
• Each pop up sprinkler can be positioned so that your garden if water efficiently and precisely, with little waste.

Disadvantages of pop up sprinklers:

• Costs a lot more then portable sprinklers.
• Parts of your lawn will need to be dug up so the system can be installed.

Oscillating Sprinkles (Portable)

Oscillating sprinklers are a common irrigation method used in the UK. They work by throwing out a line of water back and forth in a rectangular spray pattern. There are different varieties of this sprinklers depending upon the size and shape of your garden. Most oscillating sprinklers can be adjusted to increase of decrease its range.

Oscillating Sprinkler from the Amazon Store

View the oscillating sprinkler below on the Amazon store. Covers up to 3600 square feet.

Advantages of oscillating sprinklers:

• Easy to use.
• Portable
• Cheap to buy.
• Can be purchased to cover areas up to 350m2

Disadvantages of oscillating sprinklers:

• Not ideal for irregular shaped gardens.
• Will need to be moved around when watering very large lawns.

Rotary Sprinklers (Portable)

These types are sprinklers have 3 or more rotating arms, each with a sprinkler nozzle at the end. The sprinkler works off water pressure alone, pushing water out in a circle pattern as it rotates. In general, these types of sprinklers have a longer range then the oscillating types. However, it can only do circular coverage.

Rotary Sprinkler from the Amazon Store

View the rotary sprinkler below on the Amazon store. It has a distance up to 24 feet diameter which can be adjusted.

Advantages of rotary sprinklers:

• Work well at low pressure.
• Slightly more durable than oscillating sprinklers.
• Better maximum range then oscillating spinklers.

Disadvantages of rotary sprinklers:

• Its circular distribution of water means that it will need to be moved to fully water square or rectangular shaped lawns.

Travelling Sprinklers

Most people are unaware of these fantastic sprinklers. They are rotary sprinklers with a difference, they travel along the path of the hose! All powered by power. This means it can cover a very large area of your garden.

Travelling Sprinkler from the Amazon Store

Advantages of travelling sprinklers:

• Covers lawns of many sizes, from small to large.
• Can travel in a straight line or a large curve.
• Usually has three travel settings, stationary, slow and fast.

Disadvantages of travelling sprinklers:

• Is more expensive than oscillating and rotary sprinklers.
• Requires good pressure for it to work.