When it comes to lawn care, how often and how much you water your lawn will either make or break how nice your lawn looks through the season. At Organo-Lawn we have developed the 1-2-3-2-1 lawn watering technique that will ensure your lawn is getting enough water at the right time. What is the 1-2-3-2-1 Technique? This technique will water the lawn deeply and infrequently to promote deep digging grass roots, and a healthy soil microbiome. The name comes from how many days a week to water according to the time of year.

• In early spring when the temperatures are below 70⁰ F water 1 day per week.
• In late spring when the temperatures are between 70-85⁰ F water 2 days per week.
• During summer when the temperatures are above 85⁰ F water 3 days per week.
• In early fall when the temperatures drop down to 70-85⁰ F water 2 days per week.
• And lastly, in late fall when the temperatures are below 70⁰ F water 1 day per week until the system is blown out for the winter.

The amount of time to run each zone will be determined by the type of head, how much sun/shade, and the direction the lawn faces.

What are the Side Effects of an Improperly Watered Lawn?

Depending on whether the lawn is being over-watered or under-watered will cause different issues in the lawn. It is much harder for the lawn to recover from being over-watered than from being under-watered. This is especially true in the case of Necrotic Ring Spot, which can take up to 24 months to recover from while you rebuild a healthy soil. If the lawn is over-watered it can cause:

• Necrotic Ring Spot
• Soil compaction
• Grubs
• Shallow roots

If the lawn is under-watered this can cause:

• Ascochyta Leaf Blight or Dollar Spot Fungus
• Lawn yellowing
• Shallow Roots

Over-Watering a Lawn

Necrotic Ring Spot or NRS fungus spores are present in most lawns. But if the lawn is over-watered that fungus will be able to take over because the other microbes in the soil have died off. Soil compaction can be detrimental to the lawn because it won’t have much oxygen in the soil. This will also make it harder for the grass roots to dig deeply. This can be alleviated by proper watering and aeration. Grubs will show up in a lawn when the adult beetles start laying eggs in July. If the lawn is over-watered during the month of July, that will keep the eggs moist, allowing them to turn into grubs. If you water the lawn following the 1-2-3-2-1 technique, the lawn will be able to dry out between watering cycles, and the eggs will dry out and therefore not hatch. Proper watering will drastically reduce the possibility of getting grubs in your lawn.

Under-Watering a Lawn

Ascochyta is a minor stress fungus. We typically see this fungus show up in the summer when the weather goes from a cool, rainy spring to a hot, dry summer. This is because shallow roots aren’t able to deal with the drastic weather change. The deeper the roots, the better the lawn is able to deal with stresses on the lawn. Shallow roots can develop when there isn’t enough air in the soil from being over-watered (the roots stay shallow to get oxygen), or if the lawn is being watered too shallowly (the roots stay close to the surface to get water). Both of these issues can be fixed by following the 1-2-3-2-1 lawn watering technique. Lawn yellowing or drought stress is caused from the lawn not being watered enough or deeply enough. This shows up the most during the summer when the temperatures are high. If you water the lawn deeply this will train the roots to grow deeper. Proper mowing will also train the roots to grow deep. The grass roots will grow about 3 times the height of the grass. A lawn that is mowed at 3 inches will have 9-inch roots. We suggest to mow at 3 inches or taller.