Hatch, NM green chile peppers are here!
Hello, again!
I think we all saw the watering restrictions coming. The City of Wichita’s water restrictions started this week for its water customers for the remainder of the summer. Looking at the low water level of Cheney Lake, one of our sources of water, it’s evident that some type of conservation is warranted. Fortunately there are many ways we can conserve, and we have other sources of water, such as the Equus Beds to supplement our water needs.
Limiting lawn watering to one day a week is considerably less than what many of us are used to doing, myself included. But Kansas State University recommends 1” of water per week on our cool season lawns to maintain a good quality lawn, and only ½” of water a week to keep the turf alive and growing. Less than that the turf can go dormant, but still recover when weather conditions improve in a few short weeks. With improvements in turf breeding, we are seeing better drought tolerance, as well as disease resistance and overall appearance, with our fescue grass seed blends. We are currently working with our seed suppliers to provide us with a brand new seed blend this fall that we feel will check all of those boxes.
Kansas State University has good advice for maintaining a lawn with less water in this handout. Another good handout from KSU gives general turf watering information that I found interesting.
The amount of water soils absorb in an hour without runoff is different for our various soil types. Coarse sandy loam can absorb 1.3" per hour; sandy loam 1.0" per hour; silt loam 0.6" per hour; silty clay loam 0.5" per hour; and compacted clay 0.2" per hour. Jeremy advised us at our staff meeting this week to start on a “tuna diet” and use the empty cans to measure water in our lawns. By placing the cans in various areas you can determine easily how much water your irrigation system is applying to your lawn and adjust accordingly. If your soil isn’t absorbing water as quickly, you may also need to water for a shorter time, let it absorb, and water again to prevent runoff.
You’re probably concerned about your landscape beds as well. By adding mulch to our landscape beds, our new and existing landscape plants will survive quite well with less watering. Our Grade A All Bark Cedar Mulch not only beautifies our landscapes, it does a great job of retaining moisture around our landscape plants.
I’ve talked about other water retention solutions in previous articles, but remember, we’re always available in store if you have additional questions about watering or plant health. Ask us; we’re here to help!
Your friend in the garden,
Marty Johnson
Owner - Johnson's Garden Centers
I think we all saw the watering restrictions coming. The City of Wichita’s water restrictions started this week for its water customers for the remainder of the summer. Looking at the low water level of Cheney Lake, one of our sources of water, it’s evident that some type of conservation is warranted. Fortunately there are many ways we can conserve, and we have other sources of water, such as the Equus Beds to supplement our water needs.
Limiting lawn watering to one day a week is considerably less than what many of us are used to doing, myself included. But Kansas State University recommends 1” of water per week on our cool season lawns to maintain a good quality lawn, and only ½” of water a week to keep the turf alive and growing. Less than that the turf can go dormant, but still recover when weather conditions improve in a few short weeks. With improvements in turf breeding, we are seeing better drought tolerance, as well as disease resistance and overall appearance, with our fescue grass seed blends. We are currently working with our seed suppliers to provide us with a brand new seed blend this fall that we feel will check all of those boxes.
Kansas State University has good advice for maintaining a lawn with less water in this handout. Another good handout from KSU gives general turf watering information that I found interesting.
The amount of water soils absorb in an hour without runoff is different for our various soil types. Coarse sandy loam can absorb 1.3" per hour; sandy loam 1.0" per hour; silt loam 0.6" per hour; silty clay loam 0.5" per hour; and compacted clay 0.2" per hour. Jeremy advised us at our staff meeting this week to start on a “tuna diet” and use the empty cans to measure water in our lawns. By placing the cans in various areas you can determine easily how much water your irrigation system is applying to your lawn and adjust accordingly. If your soil isn’t absorbing water as quickly, you may also need to water for a shorter time, let it absorb, and water again to prevent runoff.
You’re probably concerned about your landscape beds as well. By adding mulch to our landscape beds, our new and existing landscape plants will survive quite well with less watering. Our Grade A All Bark Cedar Mulch not only beautifies our landscapes, it does a great job of retaining moisture around our landscape plants.
I’ve talked about other water retention solutions in previous articles, but remember, we’re always available in store if you have additional questions about watering or plant health. Ask us; we’re here to help!
Your friend in the garden,
Marty Johnson
Owner - Johnson's Garden Centers
More from:
Water Conservation
