Water Conservancy

Weekly Water Saving Tip #44

Weekly Water Saving Tip #41

Weekly Water Saving Tip #40

Weekly Water Saving Tip #39

One great thing about this time of year is that the summer heat is gone—or at least it’s going. September can’t seem to make up its mind. The days can still be fiercely hot but the night temperatures are cool, hinting at the things to come. There can be a difference of 20 degrees between the day and the night time temperature. Plants do most of the body building at night, even those plants that are considered to love the heat. This helps to explain why the plants start to look so much better. With the cooling temperature, we mention again, to reduce the number of times you irrigate.

Weekly Water Saving Tip #38

Last week we mentioned with September here, it is time to begin to adjust watering schedules to water less frequently. The temperature still reached 100 degrees last week but the days are getting shorter and the night temperatures are getting cooler. This reduces the stress of the plants in our landscape.

Weekly Water Saving Tip #35

The temperatures have been cooler during the night. The total amount of irrigation needed is starting to go down. This week requires 1-inch every 4 - 5 days. Whatever your watering schedule has been, make sure you start to change the timers to water fewer times during the week. Try to go one more day between watering. Increasing the days between irrigations as the cooler weather sets in encourages the roots to grow deep. These deep roots allow the turf to survive the environmental stresses of heat, cold and traffic. If you can develop a healthy turf now, you will be surprised how much better your turf will do when stressed.

Weekly Water Saving Tip #35

The weather still seems to say it is summer, but the calendar does point to the fact that it is becoming fall. The days are becoming shorter and the night temperatures are cooling. However, this time of year the weather is more intense; It’s hot and humid. But remember that although the humidity has such an effect on your comfort, it is beneficial to the plant. The loss of water from our plants is drastically reduced when the humidity is high. The stress to the plants can be reduced by the higher humidity which also results in the reduction of water loss.

Weekly Water Saving Tip #34

This past week the temperatures were still in the 100's, but the forecast for the coming week is expected to be slightly cooler. The ET for the past week requires irrigation of one inch of water every 3 to 4 days. Now if we do receive some rain, check your soil to see how deep the moisture is. You may be able to eliminate an irrigation or at least reduce the irrigation time.

Weekly Water Saving Tip #33

As you are looking over your landscape and reviewing the success and failures that you had during this summer, consider how successful your water conservation has been. Remember the two most important components of a n irrigation system are the sprinklers and the controller.

Weekly Water Saving Tip #32

During the continued hot month of August remember to check your irrigation system for any damage heads or improper coverage. Missing or damaged heads usually occur after mowing. So after you mow the lawn, run the sprinklers to check for any damage.

July 14, 2003

During the hot months of July and August, on bright sunny days like we’ve had, the loss of water from plants may be faster than can be taken up by the roots. When this happens, leaves, stems and roots may have water deficits even in moist soil. The plants may show signs of wilting during the heat of the afternoon, but this will have little or no effect on the growth of the plant. The addition of water at this time can actually have a detrimental effect on the plants by having too much water in the soil. Most plants in the landscape die from over watering, not under watering. So irrigate only when needed. Always check the soil moisture before turning the irrigation system on. This is especially true during the hottest part of the summer. It is important even with these hot temperatures to let the soil dry out one to two inches. Too much water stresses the plants just as too little. Air in the soil is just as important to the growth of the plants as is water and over watering does not allow the needed air in the root zone.

Irrigation for turf is still every three to four days. Remember, most of the communities now have a time of day watering restriction, so check with you city hall to know the time restriction in your area. But restriction or not, hopefully everyone is being water-wise in our sixth year of drought and not irrigating during the heat of the day. During this time of year the cool season grasses, such as the fescue varieties (which most of us have), will actually stop growing and shut down during the hottest part of the day, thereby requiring less water. So, even though July’s temperatures are hotter than June’s, irrigation frequency does not increase. Make sure that when you do irrigate you are getting the water down six inches into the root zone. This helps to get the roots deep, give a bigger reservoir of water storage and of course this retains the moisture for longer periods of time. This will also help to dilute the salts that are building up in the soils. Keeping only the top couple of inches moist will concentrate those salts in a much smaller area and can become toxic to the plants with the shallower root systems.

Now is the time to take it easy in the garden. Don’t tackle any new projects that expose you to the heat and might require extra water. Carry out only regular maintenance and watch for troubled areas.

This weekly water saving tip is provided to Washington County Water Conservancy District by Dr. Frank Williams, professor of the BYU Horticulture Department. If you have any questions or would like to know more information, please call Julie Breckenridge at 673-3617.