My neighbor was right about not overwatering the lawn

Honestly I always thought more water meant greener grass so I had the sprinklers on every single morning. But my neighbor Mr. Garcia kept telling me I was drowning the roots and making them weak. After 3 weeks of following his advice watering just twice a week deep, my grass looks way better than before. I guess I just assumed thirsty plants always need more water. Anyone else get lawn advice that ended up being totally backwards?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey_wood21mo ago

@jasonf17 I gotta disagree with that "sweet spot" idea though... more water is almost always better when it comes to lawns. I've been watering mine every day for years and it's the thickest, greenest grass on the block. Maybe Mr. Garcia's grass came out better because you actually had bad drainage or something.

jamesroberts1mo ago

Wait, are you really watering your lawn every single day? That's a lot of water and honestly it can cause more problems than it solves. Grass roots actually grow deeper when they have to search for water, so if you're soaking them daily the roots stay shallow and weak. Plus all that moisture is a perfect invitation for fungus and disease to move in. I've seen neighbors lose big patches of grass because they thought daily watering was the secret. Maybe try cutting back to every few days and give it a good deep soak instead, you might be surprised how much better it looks.

jasonf171mo ago

Mr. Garcia sounds like he knows his stuff. It's funny how a lot of the common sense advice we get about plants and lawns turns out to be the exact opposite of what they really need. I think that applies to a lot of things in life, not just gardening. We tend to think more of something is always better, but a lot of times it's about finding that sweet spot of just enough. Like with people, you can smother someone with attention or help when what they really need is a little space to grow on their own.