Watering the Lawn
There are a couple of things that I am dreading, other than having to endure this horrible, dry heat for another three months: getting my electricity and water bill. Last month’s electric bill was about $100 more than the previous month, and I know this month, it will increase even a little more. The water bill… ah, if only it would rain. We received a question from Chelsea, a new-to-Austin mama who is afraid of her pretty grass dying. She writes:
I have never been in a drought like this before, especially not with such intense heat. I’m from Seattle and am used to nature taking care of keeping things alive and green. Maybe some of your readers can share with me how often to water my lawn. We’ve been living here for four months and I water two times a week, but it’s still dying in many spots. My husband, a native Texan, seems to think I should water less and let the lawn die out a little instead of spending a ridiculous amount ($160) on our water bill. What do your readers recommend? I thought it might be a good topic since there are probably lots of newcomers who are wondering the same thing.
Do you have any tips on keeping the grass green for newcomers who find themselves struggling with this heat and dry weather?
July 9th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
If you are in Austin, there are year round watering rules so by law you are only allowed to water 2x a week:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watercon/summer.htm
There are also useful tips on the site, like here:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watercon/watering.htm
which tell you that if you have adequate soil, you should water once a week deeply, or twice a week less deeply. We have two bathrooms, 3 people and our bill is $40/month (we do have low flow toilets and water the yard 2x a week). We did recently have our sprinkler system repaired in the hopes of less water waste and more efficient watering.
Our lawn actually looks great now. If your yard is really dying and it bothers you, you could also look into other types of grass which might require less water or be more suited to the temps? Hope that helps!
July 10th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Nicole took the words right out of my mouth. Another thing to think about is that Central Texas is a very unique climate, which is not conducive to lush, green landscapes. It’s an aesthetic shift, and one that is not easy for someone who comes from rainier, cooler climes. (my husband is from Oregon, via Pennsylvania, and is still adjusting to our local landscape).
We follow the City of Austin’s watering guidelines, but have also greatly reduced our front lawn area, while hugely increasing the size of our landscaping borders, which are filled with native, drought-tolerant plants (xeriscaping). It’s not exactly lush, but it does look lovely & is a nice contrast to our itsy-bitsy lawn.
You can read more on this here: http://www.smartscapes.org/
Happy gardening!