Wise Ways to Water Your Lawn - Lincoln, Nebraska

Wise Ways to Water Your Lawn - Lincoln, Nebraska

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  Wise use ofwater is a good idea for many reasons. On a grand scale, it protects our environment and preserves this precious natural resource. On a personal level, it saves you money by reducing your water bill. As a community, water conservation will lengthen the life of While nature's capacity to Lincoln's water delivery system because produce water seems limitless, less stress is placed on the system. the Lincoln Water System's Lincoln's Water Conservation Task Force (LWS) ability to deliver water to has produced many brochures on how you your home is not. In fact, the can become water wise. Join the task force in making Lincoln a water wise community. water you use is a carefully produced quality product which is clean and safe. Your water is piped directly to your TM Low Water-Use Tolerant Plants for home through an elaborate Lincoln, Nebraska delivery system. During the Why Conserve? summer when water use Wise Ways to Save Water Indoors increases, LWS can deliver 80- 90 million gallons a day. When Special Thanks to: water use approaches or Don Wilhite, Associate Professor University of Nebraska, Agricultural Meteorology exceeds this level, individual water conservation decisions Presented by: Mayor's Water become important. TM Conservation Task Force Lincoln Water System 2021 North 27th Street Lincoln, NE 68521 Web Address: www.ci.lincoln.ne.us/city/pworks/water TM Designed by Citizen Information Center Revised 2/2000 TM
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  Water once ortwice a week, allowing time for the moisture to soak down to the roots (6-8 inches). Frequent light waterings encourages shallow root growth. Shallow root systems are not tolerant to drought. If your soil type will not allow you to deep-soak your lawn, split your Over half the water we use in the watering times into two or more blocks to allow summer goes to water our lawns and other the soil to absorb the water. thirsty plants. By watering efficiently in the landscape, you can help to keep the city's Use a sprinkler that throws large drops of water use within the system's capacity and water close to the ground. Sprinklers which Aeration loosens soil and reduces also reduce your summertime water bill. throw mist or small droplets of water high in the compaction. After aeration, more water will Lincoln's Water Conservation Task Force air, result in excessive evaporation. Traveling reach the roots, resulting in less run-off. Aerate sprinklers are among the most efficient. your lawn once or twice a year. offers 12 practical ways to keep your lawn green and conserve water, too. Make sure your sprinkler waters just the lawn. Water on sidewalks, driveways and streets is a Water during the cool part of the day, to waste. Avoid run-off by reducing the volume Don't water every day. Stick a screwdriver reduce evaporation. The best time to water from the sprinkler heads close to the street. into the soil. If it offers little resistance to a your lawn is early morning. Deep water shrubs Avoid watering on windy days. depth of 6 inches, the soil has adequate in evening hours. moisture. Another simple test is to step on the grass. Grass will lie flat if the moisture is low. If Underground automatic sprinkler systems the blades bounce back quickly, wait a day or should be adjusted to accommodate changes in two to water. Pay attention to the color of your The amount of water your lawn requires seasonal water demand. Remember, they are lawn. When it is under stress it will change varies from week to week and month to month. semi-automatic and require periodic checks color, becoming more blue-green. Lawns seldom need to be watered during April. throughout the summer. If you have an In most instances, start watering in mid-May to automatic system, adjust the time clock as the early June. temperature changes to give your plants only While these tips are for lawns, you can save the amount of water they need to stay healthy. TM If you have a manual system, carefully watch a water outdoors by planting a water-conserving landscape. There are hundreds of low water clock or set a kitchen timer. use/drought tolerant plants, including Different plants and turf grasses require turfgrasses, which will thrive in Lincoln. Call the varying amounts of water. A healthy, growing Cooperative Extension Office in Lancaster bluegrass lawn will require about one-half inch of Know your soil type before you water. When County for a brochure. Many Lincoln nursuries water per week in early May and one to two water runs off your lawn and into the street, it also have this information. inches per week during the mid-summer months. often means that the soil is unable to absorb Adjust watering to include rainfall. water as fast as it is being applied. As a simple guide, clay soils require slow watering. Clay soils dry out slowly and need infrequent watering. TM Measure your sprinkler output by placing Sandy soils dry out quickly and require more Note: These water conservation tips are three or more cans in various locations frequent watering. Loam soils are a combination appropriate for lawns with a predominately throughout the sprinkler pattern. Turn on your of clay, sand and silt. Most of the soils in Lincoln Kentucky Bluegrass lawn. If you have another sprinkler for fifteen minutes. The average depth are of the clay-loam type. Install a moisture lawn type (e.g. fescue, zoysia) consult your of water in the cans will tell you how much sensor in each automatic sprinkler zone for the nursery or call the County Cooperative Extension water the sprinkler has applied. most efficient use of water. Office in Lancaster County at 441-7180 for advice.