Can I Water My Lawn At Night?

Can I Water My Lawn at Night?Sometimes, watering your lawn during the day is just inconvenient.  It can throw off your mowing schedule, and if you have kids you probably don't want them playing on the wet grass. There are a lot of reasons why watering the lawn during the day can be inconvenient. So, is turning the sprinklers on at night at option?

No. Don't let your sprinklers run at night. Without the sun to help dry up the water, it can turn your lawn into a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus that have the potential to actually kill your lawn.

So if you can't water your lawn at night, what exactly are your options? Have no fear, we're here to help you figure out what you can do to get your lawn watered, and to keep it healthy!

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Watering the Lawn

Why Shouldn't I Water My Lawn at Night?

Watering your lawn at night REALLY would be more convenient, but it really is detrimental to your grass. When you water your lawn at night, the sun isn't around to help evaporate the water. But the sun evaporating the water sounds like a bad thing, doesn't it?

There's a balance that needs to be maintained when watering your lawn if you're going to keep it healthy. When you water your lawn, you need to water it deeply enough that the water soaks around six inches into the ground, which is about how deeply the roots of the grass go. Getting the water to soak that deep is easier when it isn't hot, but as you can imagine, having a lawn soaking in six inches of water night after night doesn't do good things for it.

Have you ever noticed brown, dead patches of grass in your lawn, even though you're pretty sure you're watering it consistently? There's a good chance that your lawn has a fungal or bacterial infection that is killing the grass, and overwatering it, or watering it at night is what causes that.

When to Water Your Lawn

Watering lawn

So you can't water your lawn at night, but you shouldn't water your lawn when it's hot or sunny to be efficient with your water. When is the best time to water?

Ideally, the best time to water your lawn is in the early morning! It will still be cool enough that the water won't evaporate too quickly, but since the day is beginning to heat up, the water won't stay soaking into your lawn for hours on end, which is what encourages fungi, bacteria, and certain kinds of bugs (like mosquitos) to make a home in your yard.

How to Water Your Lawn

The easiest way to accomplish this is to have a sprinkler system that's on a timer. Most houses and apartments now have an automatic sprinkler system that can be set up to water only during certain times of the day for certain periods of time. The control panel for this system is generally located in your garage, sometimes as an exposed control panel, while other times the control panel is located in a plastic box mounted on the wall. These systems generally will have instructions either in the box with the control panel, on the wall next to the panel, or for free online, so you can figure out how to set your watering system to operate how you want it to.

But, on the off chance that you don't have an automatic sprinkler system available to you, there are other options! You're going to need three things, a hose (or more than one), a sprinkler to attach to it, and a timer.

Watering Options

Flexzilla Lightweight Heavy Duty Garden Hose

As Amazon's number one selling garden hose, with thousands of reviews to back up its quality. If you're needing a hose to start your lawn-watering adventure, this hose is the way to go. You can buy it in many different increments of length, from three feet long (pictured below) to one hundred feet long.

Built lighter than most garden hoses, it's easy to carry around your yard, and with a flexible build, not only will it coil easily, but it doesn't retain the "memory" of the coil, so you don't have to worry about it kinking up when it's in use.

Click here to check this product out on Amazon's website!

Milemont 360 Degree Rotating Lawn Sprinkler

This specific model of sprinkler provides spectacular yard coverage, claiming to cover a grand total of 3600 square feet per sprinkler. It has nozzles on each side of the sprinkler, meaning you can attach a garden hose to both sides and expand your range, enabling you to connect another sprinkler on the same "line". This makes it possible to cover more ground, so long as you have the hose and sprinklers to do it.

Made of plastic, you don't have to worry about it rusting if you leave it set out in the sun for extended periods of time, and it's incredibly durable, completely capable of withstanding both harsh weather and children.

Check out this #1 selling lawn sprinkler on Amazon by clicking here!

Orbit's 2 Outlet Programmable Hose Faucet Timer

This timer, with thousands of satisfied reviews, is incredibly easy to use, and will easily automate your sprinkler system. The nozzle on top connects to the water spigot on your house, and you can attach up to two hoses on the bottom of the device. Each nozzle that attaches to a hose can be put on their own individual timers, giving you complete control over a wide swath of your yard when watering.

Once you've set your desired time of day and length of each watering session, you can go to work, or on a vacation, safe in the knowledge that your lawn is going to get watered when you want, and for the length of time you chose.

Click here to check this product out on Amazon, and see if it's right for you!

Should I Water My Lawn in the Morning or Evening?

When you water your lawn in the morning, you give it plenty of time to drink in the water before the sun comes out and the afternoon heat starts to evaporate the moisture. When you water the lawn in the evening, the water will just sink into the ground and stagnate around the roots of your grass until the sun comes out and dries out the ground.

When the water just sits in your lawn for hours on end, it can start to grow fungi and bacteria that can actually start to kill your lawn. You'll be able to tell if this is happening to your lawn if you water it consistently, but are still noticing brown spots appearing on your lawn.

Will Watering Grass During the Day Burn it?

Nope! There are a number of myths that have been floating around for years that claim that watering your lawn when it's sunny will burn the lawn, because of the sun being concentrated through the water droplets on the lawn.

You can rest assured that this is 100% a myth, and while watering your lawn when it's hot may not be the most efficient use of your water, there won't be a negative impact on your grass.

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Best Time to Water the Lawn in Hot Weather

Early in the morning! If you know the day is going to be hot, the best time to water your lawn is early in the morning, when it's not so hot that the water will evaporate more quickly, but also not so cool that the water will just stagnate in your grass, which isn't good for it.

You can still water your lawn in the middle of the day without hurting it, but if you're looking for the time that gives you the most efficient use of your water, and gives your grass the time it needs to soak it in, early in the morning is a perfect time!

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