People often ask how they can make their grass the healthiest and most lush in all of Winnipeg. Property maintenance companies routinely use this as an excuse to sell fertilization, when a good watering program can solve 80% of the growth issues. Watering your grass is key for growth and health and to ensure you have the greenest grass in Winnipeg.
Hero sees all sorts of different watering conditions on the grass we maintain. Many yards have no watering plan at all so the turf can dry out in the later part of the summer. We combat this by mowing higher every time we show up for service. This allows the grass to get more strength hold more water and also helps provide shade on the underlying soil so that not as much sunlight can get through to it to dry it out.
Other yards are the exact opposite of this and have an automatic sprinkler system going a half hour every day. I’ve personally seen grass grow 6 inches in a week with this kind of watering program so the effect that watering has on grass growth is incredible. However at a point it becomes less of a weekly maintenance service and more of a harvesting program. We’re not selling the clippings so this has no benefit to us as a business, nor does it help the homeowner because their grass looks knee high by the time we are out to mow it again.
Will more water create more growth? Absolutely. But there’s a point of diminishing return. Many homeowners become addicted to watering because they want their grass greener and greener, but the fact is a minimal watering plan is best for a lawn. The max water needed for a Winnipeg property is 2-3x a week for 10-15 minutes. That’s it, that’s all. When you factor in the natural rain that will occur through the summer this is plenty of water to maintain a green lawn without growing hay. It also makes it much easier on your yard care guy. We will not service properties with a program in excess of this as our workload nearly doubles which means our price needs to double. This is rarely something a client is happy to indulge on. Usually this opposition is enough to cause homeowners to reduce their watering program.
So how can you water your grass consistently? First of all you can have an automatic sprinkler system installed that does it for you. This is the most effective option but it is very costly and very thorough. If you are going to install an underground sprinkler it’s best to do it before a lawn is present at all. Do it after the house is first built and the grass hasn’t been planted yet. Otherwise you are ripping up nice turf to install underground piping. So an underground system is best implemented from a ground up approach when the initial landscaping service is occurring on your property.
The second best option is an automated above ground sprinkler system. Depending on the size of the yard an automated timer can be hooked onto your tap that turns on as many times as you set it to. You then run hoses in hidden places on the yard out of sight to above ground sprinklers which can currently shoot close to 50 feet. This is plenty of gusto to cover most Winnipeg yards and the total solution can be done for $200-300 if you do proper planning. There is the view of sprinklers to contend with but if you place them properly you’ll barely notice them at all.
Other options for watering include manually hooking up the sprinkler every time you want to water. This option makes for less consistent watering because chances are you will forget every once in a while. Further to manually watering is hand watering. Instead of using a sprinkler you may want to water certain parts of the lawn. Hand watering needs to be done from time to time to target specific areas like dry spots, fertilizer spills or other situations that require precise aiming of water to the problem area.
The bottom line is that anyone can service their yard like a professional by using a watering program. No matter what your budget. Follow the guidelines above and don’t over water and you will have a nice green canvas of grass to show off to your neighbors and visitors.
