If you're watering your lawn at all, there's a good chance you're watering it too much. That's the take-away at a drought workshop near Sacramento for landscaping professionals. Lesley McClurg attended the class sponsored by the Department of Water Resources.
Tom Noonan is water management specialist. He says calibrating sprinklers can be a complicated science.
But, the bottom line is...
Noonan: "Get rid of run-off and get rid of over spray."
To do that -- water often and for short intervals.
If you have fan sprinklers, Noonan says you shouldn't let them run for more than four minutes at a time -- otherwise the water will overwhelm the soil and snake down your sidewalk.
Program your irrigation system to soak the soil in short bursts throughout the night.
Noonan: "It is never appropriate to water during the day. And people have the misconception that, 'Oh it's hot and windy out here and I need to dose my plant material,' but in truth probably at least 70-80 percent of that water got evaporated."
You can only water your lawn or your vegetable beds two days a week. Drip irrigation is permitted anytime. The restrictions are statewide.
Noonan suggests prioritizing water for edibles and trees, rather than your lawn. Brown grass will come back after the drought, but fruit trees need continuing attention even during dry times.
