How
to Tell
If You Water Enough |
| April
12 , 2007 -- Issue 6 |
|
|
| Better
Fields for Better Play |
|
|
The turf is alive!
You need to feed it, keep the bugs away, and keep it groomed.
And you need to water it.
Here are three ways to tell if you are watering enough
-
Sometimes you have to water by hand.
You might have certain spots on the edges that the sprinklers just
don't cover well. Or it is over 100 degrees out and you want
to hand water to control the watering.
So, how do you know when you have hand watered enough?
You do the 'squish' test. Suppose you are
watering a 10' by 10' area. You spray back and forth, a little here,
a little there.
The turf has enough water when you step out on it and you can hear
and feel your shoe go 'squish.' If you don't get the 'squish'
then you need to water some more.
- As you
walk your infield turf check for hard lumps. This is
easy to do when you walk behind your mower as you mow the field.
If the subsurface of the turf previously was smooth and flat, but
is now starting to feel lumpy and bumpy it might indicate a lack of
water.
The grass may still be green, but the roots and the ground is starting
to stress. As the moisture evaporates it often does not leave
the field smooth. It leave bumps and lumps.
If this happens, soak the field. Then soak
it again and roll with a 100 lb lawn roller a couple times and all
will be well.
- The obvious
one: the grass is drying up and turning brown. Water
longer and more often till it revives.
|
|
