Agenda - Council Work Session - 02/28/2017

Home

HOW TO WATER It is best to keep watering to a minimum without stressing your plants. Thorough, infrequent watering will force your plants to develop deep, strong root systems that will be able to absorb water from soil better than shallow roots that develop from light watering. With the exception of the warm summer months of June, July and August our climate and weather in Minnesota usually supply enough moisture to support our plant life without supplemental watering. Water in the landscape is lost back into the atmosphere through evaporation and is used by the plant for cooling purposes (a process known as transpiration). Together these two phenomena are known as "evapotranspiration." Watering time and frequency is affected by plant type, soil type, the weather, and the amount of sun and wind your plant or lawn is receiving. During hot, dry weather, the time between watering should be shorter. Cooler, dryer conditions enable you to water less often. Our cool -season turf grasses do a majority of their growing during cool spring and fall months. During the hottest parts of the summer months some of our older lawn grasses will actually go into a dormant state or slow their growth considerably in order to survive these periods. While they may not look their best at this time, it is actually a natural part of their lifecycle. Other plants, such as prairie grasses and flowers will actually suffer if watered as frequently as other plants, such as many garden perennials. Some plants will require more watering than others due to their size, placement, amount of sun and general physiology. Hand watering these plants and areas may be a more efficient use of your water than just turning on the sprinkler and watering areas that don't need watering. So understanding the needs and climate of your particular plants, shrubs, turfgrass, etc. is important to knowing how often you need to water. A very light application of water is called syringing. Essentially, you are wetting the leaves of grasses and plants to reduce heat stress and cool plant and soil surfaces along with the surrounding air. Syringing is useful after seeding a lawn or lawns recover- ing from certain root diseases. The amount of water you apply will depend on your type of soil and its moisture level. The best method is to thoroughly dampen the soil to a depth of five or six inches. Applying too much water will saturate the soil. Any additional water applied may be lost via run-off or it may move too deeply into the soil where plant roots cannot utilize it. Also, water needs will vary considerably from one type of plant to the next. For example, tree roots are much wider spreading and grow deeper in the soil than a shrub. Thus, adequately watering a mature tree will require watering a much larger area than a mature shrub.