Mid-day Refreshment

augenwink – posted 19 July 2006 23:29

Is it advisable to run lawn sprinklers for a few minutes during the hotter/sunnier days? If so, what time of day and for how long? My thought is that this might keep the grass from dehydrating and possibly browning from the exposure between waterings and possibly extend the interval between waterings with minimal use of extra water. I have an Inland Northwest bluegrass mixture for a lawn and our summer temps are typcally 80-100 deg. F for a month or two. Thanks in advance for any help. Larry.

Grassguy – posted 20 July 2006 12:34

you can apply 1/2″ to cool the ground temp in the hot part of the day.

TexanOne – posted 21 July 2006 22:57

Many golf courses in hot, dry areas do exactly what you are asking. It’s especially a good idea for cool-season grasses and if your water is of good quality and doesn’t have a high mineral content. I’m not exactly sure about this, but I think cool season grasses tend to go into summer dormancy when temperatures get 90 deg F. and above for several days. The mid-day watering will help prevent that.

augenwink – posted 22 July 2006 00:32

Thanks, Texanone. So it looks like I am on an ok course. I’ll experiment and see if I can notice some benefits. Larry.

cohiba – posted 26 July 2006 15:23

I do exactly what you are talking about on our bentgrass greens in southern NJ. Just a few things to consider: 1. This is technically called “syringing”. 2. You will lose at least 40% of that water due to evaporation, so do not include or count this as watering. Watering should only be done in the early morning hours.

3. We only syringe when the temperature is over 90.

4. We don’t syringe if we watered heavily the night before.

5. Keep in mind that syringing incourages Poa Annua, if that is a problem in your area. We syringe primarily to keep the Poa annua from dying in the summer. If we had 100% bentgrass we would not need to syringe.

Just a few points to ponder……

augenwink – posted 14 August 2006 09:44

Thanks GrassGuy and Cohiba, good info I can use. Larry.