Having abundant, deep roots is one sign of a healthy lawn. But did you know that the way you water your lawn can have a very significant influence on the depth and density of the roots?

The most common mistake homeowners make when watering the grass is that they water often, but not very deeply. The result of this is that the roots stay near the surface where the water is, instead of going down deep into the soil. The grass then becomes dependent on frequent watering, and if you don’t keep up with it the roots dry out very quickly in the summer heat and drought.

The next most common mistake is watering the lawn deeply, but too often. When the ground is constantly saturated the waterlogged conditions will cause thinning and stunting of roots, plus rotting in the worst cases. During a wet season with a lot of heavy rains, lawns can suffer like this. The grass then becomes weak and off-color, and often ridden with disease.

So how do you water your lawn?

For deep and thick roots, you should water the lawn deeply, but infrequently. In heavier clay soils this could be perhaps once a week in the summer. Sandy soils can need watering up to twice a week. If you’re looking for a way to help manage clay or sandy soils, check out our Aerify PLUS and our Nature’s Magic.

What do we mean by “deep” watering? At least 1 hour of watering on each section of the lawn. This way the water is getting down to the root zone and deep into the soil to encourage the grass to shoot roots down, where they can thrive off untapped nutrients and be protected from insects, disease, and drought.