Water Your Lawn Wisely

Coping with Watering Restrictions

Introduction
Water Management During Drought
Drastic Measures

Introduction

Because of Florida's sandy soils, plants may experience drought stress after only a few days without rain or irrigation.

During a drought, or when conditions indicate a drought may be imminent, Florida's water management districts have the authority to restrict water use. Irrigation for commercial and home landscapes may be restricted.

The following guidelines are given as suggestions for watering during drought.

Water Management During Drought

General Practices

Priorities. Water highly visible and intensively managed areas first. Drought-sensitive plants should have high priority, and grass should have lower priority. Although grass is drought-sensitive, it is cheaper to replace than trees and shrubs.

Time of day. Water early in the morning. Less water loss occurs from evaporation and wind drift in the morning because of cooler temperatures and less wind.

Frequency. Irrigate deeply at long intervals rather than watering frequently and shallowly. Deep watering improves drought resistance by promoting deeper, more extensive root systems. Depth of watering should be six to twelve inches for turf and bedding plants, and twelve inches for perennials, shrubs, and trees. One inch of irrigation wets a sandy soil to a depth of about twelve inches.

Maintenance. Examine the irrigation system and repair leaks promptly.

Weed control. Keep weeds under control; weeds steal water from plants.

Fertilization. Don’t fertilize or, if you do, use a low nitrogen fertilizer. Fertilization stimulates growth and increases water needs.

Pesticide application. Avoid unnecessary applications of pesticides that require "watering in."

Turf

Irrigation. Irrigate turf only after about 30% of your lawn starts to wilt. Signs of wilting include footprints that remain in the grass long after being made, a bluish-grey appearance to the lawn, and a large proportion of leaf blades that are folded in half length-wise.

Cutting height. Raise the cutting height of turf. Although taller grass uses slightly more water than shorter grass, a higher cutting height promotes deeper rooting and maintains turf quality longer.

Mowing frequency. Mow less frequently. Mowing stresses the grass plant by increasing respiration and reducing root growth. In addition, never remove more than one-third the length of the blade to prevent too much stress on grass.

Mower blade. Use a sharp blade when mowing. A sharp mower blade produces a cleaner cut that heals more quickly and loses less water than a cut made by a dull blade.

Bedding Plants, Shrubs, and Trees

Mulch. Add mulch to beds to reduce evaporation from soil and to moderate soil temperature, reducing stress on roots. Final depth of your mulch should be three to four inches after settling.

Irrigation methods. If possible, don’t use overhead sprinklers for shrub and flower beds. Hand water, flood irrigate, or use trickle irrigation. Greater water loss can occur with overhead irrigation because of evaporation and wind drift.

Irrigation frequency. Irrigate trees and shrubs after they start to wilt. Drooping leaves and a change in leaf color are signs of wilting. Many trees and shrubs can survive drought without irrigation, providing they are well-established and were irrigated prior to the drought.

Shade. Move container plants to shaded areas to reduce their water needs.

Drastic Measures

The following recommendations should be followed when drought is so severe and water use is so restricted that landscape plant survival is in question.

Only water plants when they start to wilt.
Apply chemical wetting agents to soil so it will absorb water uniformly and prevent dry spots.
For bahiagrass lawns, stop irrigating and allow the grass to go dormant. Bahiagrass will turn brown, but it recovers well when irrigation resumes.
Prune plants severely to reduce leaf area.
Remove weak plants.
Thin dense beds of plants to reduce competition among plants.

Condensed from:

Coping with Drought in the Landscape (ENH70) by Gary W. Knox, S. Michele Scheiber, Laurie Trenholm, Amy Shober, Kimberly A. Moore, Maria del Pilar Paz and Edward F. Gilman. Published by: Environmental Horticulture Department (rev. 5/2007)

Top Navigation