How do I know if I am under- or over-watering my lawn?

Knowing if your lawn is under-or over-watered isn’t as easy as you’d think. Read on to learn how to tell the difference and make sure your lawn is getting the proper amount of water. 

1. The under-watered lawn: How to spot it and what to do (see image above👆)

- The first sign of under-watered grass is a dark greenish-brown area in your lawn (see photo above), that will continue to get darker and will start turning a grayish color; after which it will go dormant and turn to a light brown, straw-like color.

- When you first see it turning to a dark greenish-brown spot, if it is 1-2 square feet or smaller (about the size of a hand towel), adjust your sprinkler head to cover this area better, or hand water the area. If the dark greenish-brown spot is larger, like the size of a blanket, we encourage you to increase your watering time on that sprinkler station by 10%, which should make the dark greenish-brown spot go away in a few days. You should also hand water this area before you turn up the sprinklers 10% to help the area catch up. 

- Any time you see a dark greenish-brown spot show up in the lawn, be sure to hand water that area with a hose for 5 minutes or so, and you will be surprised at how quickly it recovers!  That dark greenish-brown spot will bounce right back to a green lawn within a day, as long as it has not already turned a gray or straw color.

- If you don’t catch your lawn turning the dark greenish-brown color (you have about 2 days to catch it before it turns gray, and then to straw), you can still recover it. The blades of grass are dead, but the root system is still alive! Make sure this area gets the right amount of water, and your lawn will grow back within 4-6 weeks.

2. The Over-watered lawn: How to spot it and what to do

- The first signs of an over-watered lawn are usually fluorescent, light green colored areas in your grass. If you see this happening, turn down that sprinkler station by 10%, and it should go away within 3 or 4 days.

- If you don’t catch the over-watered area when it turns fluorescent light green, and it has killed the lawn, no worries! First, reduce watering time on that sprinkler station by 10%. Next, hand apply some LawnSaver to that area after 5:00 PM (use a handful or so for every 2-3 square feet - like you are putting salt and pepper on your food), and then immediately hand water the application in with a hose, just until that area begins to puddle with water. That small application of LawnSaver will condition the soil and eliminate any new fungal growth. As long as you have reduced the watering time by 10% on that station, new grass should begin to grow back in that area and will eventually fill in.