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according to what you guys have mentioned, i have been over watering. i'm pretty sure. i figured that more water means more green! i've since stopped.
This morning around 630 am, i watered the vegtable garden and the grass very lightly......about 20 percent of the amount i USED to do daily in the evening.
also, surprisingly, the front lawn that i do NOT water at all is nice and green. lol but it might be due to the nice shade it gets from a big tree up front.
Have you ever been to Disneyland or Walt Disney World? Ever spent the whole day there? ever seen the sprinklers on? And you never will, either. All the flowers and plants and lawns are watered extensively in the morning, before the place opens. And all those flowers always look healthy and vibrant and happy. Very little watering is done at night and virtually none during the day. I learned that much while I worked there. I have always followed that pattern with my own lawn, flowers and vegetable garden. The Disney way is the right and winning way. The only thing that was watered in the early evening or at night were the golf courses so they would be relatively dry for the early golfers. Everything else - at the crack of dawn or just before.
evidence-is-key...
If you want to make this real easy, take an empty tuna can (or cans) and place them throughout your yard. Then run your sprinklers until the cans fill up. This will give you an inch of water. Then you know how long to run your sprinklers. Do that once a week. Even if it some or all of it goes dormant, that's better than diseased turf that can be a very expensive headache to deal with.
Have you ever been to Disneyland or Walt Disney World? Ever spent the whole day there? ever seen the sprinklers on? And you never will, either. All the flowers and plants and lawns are watered extensively in the morning, before the place opens. And all those flowers always look healthy and vibrant and happy. Very little watering is done at night and virtually none during the day. I learned that much while I worked there. I have always followed that pattern with my own lawn, flowers and vegetable garden. The Disney way is the right and winning way. The only thing that was watered in the early evening or at night were the golf courses so they would be relatively dry for the early golfers. Everything else - at the crack of dawn or just before.
The disney way is the right and winning way?!?!
Mod Cut
Most people do not have the budget for daily watering and most people don't have millions of acres of lakes and retention ponds of free water like disney and fixing or replacing diseased plants or replacing shallow-rooted plants that died after one day of not getting watered when you go out of town.
Last edited by Rance; 07-14-2009 at 08:34 AM..
Reason: Didn't need that remark...
If you water often and shallow, you train the grass roots to grow up to seek moisture. Then the grass will die more easily when it is not watered. So water once a week and deeply and always in the moring, I say before sunrise as after sunrise alot is lost to evaporation. Never let any plant go to bed with wet foliage. It breeds disease and fungus and mold. Golf courses are watered when nobody is using them so they end up spending alot of money fighting the diseases they encourage by evening watering. But they can't water in early a.m. and expect happy golfers.
And of course Disney spends a fortune replacing plants at the slightest sign of distress. Don't think all those flowers are the original ones planted. Ever see all their greenhouses? They are johnny on the spot to rip out a plant and replace it with perfect from the greenhouse to make it all look so perfect. After all that is what Disney is all about---the illusion of perfection.
don't have millions of acres of lakes and retention ponds of free water
The average residential area doesn't need millions of acres of lakes and retention ponds of free water, either. Apparently there is a failure to communicate here. The Disney way is the right way and that is certifiably my opinion and as a member of City-data.com/forums. Simply save your bath water, dish water and shower water to use on your lawn or plants and you are using essentially, free water. The soap in your own reclaimed water will help to rid the plants of harmful bugs, too.
I'm happy to offer other money-saving tips for the garden or home. All you have to do is ask.
Part of my lawn is struggling too. I was told it has thatch but in trying to clear it out I am hitting the grass plastic mesh the turf had on it so really I wasn't doing any good. I decided to get a rake and poke holes it the bare spots to allow water to go through and hopefully it will help. I also try to water about an hour a week (in absence of rain) which for my sprinkler is about an inch.
The average residential area doesn't need millions of acres of lakes and retention ponds of free water, either. Apparently there is a failure to communicate here. The Disney way is the right way and that is certifiably my opinion and as a member of City-data.com/forums. Simply save your bath water, dish water and shower water to use on your lawn or plants and you are using essentially, free water. The soap in your own reclaimed water will help to rid the plants of harmful bugs, too.
I'm happy to offer other money-saving tips for the garden or home. All you have to do is ask.
Watering daily is the wrong way.
It can cause disease
It can kill plants
It can cause shallow rooted plants
It can cause root rot
It's unnecessary
It's a waste of water
Container plants, flower beds and nursery stock is another story. But cool season grass in the midatlantic region has a completely different care regimen.
Just as a side note the comment I made that was edited out by a moderator was not an insult. I won't repeat it but I just wanted you to know it wasn't an insult.
I fully agree. A deep watering 1-2 times per week is much healthier for the lawn than shallow watering every day.
It is also better to water overnight or early morning for two reasons.
1) More of the water makes it into the ground, rather than evaporating away in the hot sun.
2) Water sitting on blades of grass can act as a magnifying glass and focus the sun's heat, burning the grass. It probably isn't going to catch fire, but it will dry it out, which is the opposite of the desired result.
Simply save your bath water, dish water and shower water to use on your lawn or plants and you are using essentially, free water. The soap in your own reclaimed water will help to rid the plants of harmful bugs, too. .
How do I collect my gray water? I know where the exit to the sewer line is but that also contains my poop water
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