Watering Tips

Lawns grow best in the spring. During the hot summer, the lawn begins a dormancy phase and may turn brown. This is normal but extra care should be used. Water turf once a week with about 2.5 cm of water if it has not rained. This may not keep the turf from going dormant, but it will insure that it survives the dry period. Light traffic only.

To judge whether or not your lawn has received the one inch of water by rainfall use a rain gauge. These are available free of charge to all York Region residents at our participating garden centres listed at the back of this booklet and at your local municipality office during the summer months. You can also use your rain gauge to measure your lawn watering ensuring your lawn receives no more than the one inch it needs per week.

Follow these Watering Tips for a Healthy Lawn!

• Use a rain gauge to measure rainfall and watering.  
• Water deeply and less often for once a week and 2.5 cm (one inch) at the most.
• Water at the right time of day. Watering before 9:00 a.m.is the best time when loss to evaporation will be at a minimum.
• Check with your municipality on watering restrictions.
• Use the right kind of sprinkler. Sprinklers that shoot low to the ground are far superior to the oscillating fan type of sprinklers that lose much of their water to evaporation and wind drift before it ever hits the lawn.

* Remember that the one inch once a week rule applies to lawns that are already well established. New grass seed and sod will require one inch of water 2 to 3 times per week for the first 3 weeks after which time you can follow instructions above for established lawns.

For Detailed Lawncare, please see the Lawncare + Maintenance and Overseeding factsheets.

For information on watering in your area, please see the Municipal Summer Water Conservation By-Law section.