Once (1x) per Week is Not Enough

I service lawns irrigated with reclaimed water  - 3x per week water privileges - and many with well water - restricted to 1x per week watering. My observation is: Once per week watering is insufficient to sustain a St Augustine lawn in Pinellas County – it does not work!

1x per Week Watering

Once per week watering will only sustain the St Augustine turf in the most amicable areas of the lawn – the shady, the moist and the areas not stressed by sun, poor soils or biological stresses(i.e. nematodes) – in other words, only the perfect areas of your lawn will survive.The rest of your lawn will become “battle scarred” with dead, dying or weak turf with little chance of recovery or reclamation.

These battle scarred areas become prime habitats for weeds and chinch bugs and require heavier doses of chemicals to mitigate (hard to manage). Once per week watering will reduce your lawn to patches of weeds and dead dying grass interspersed with patches of attractive St Augustine – not much to brag about!

One reason once per week water fails is our sandy soils cannot store and provide for seven days sufficient moisture to sustain St Augustine – it is one of the limitations of our soils. Consider this scenario:

• Week One: Water on Tuesday, no rain – grass stressed and dying by Sunday
• Week Two: Water stressed grass on Tuesday and it rains on Wednesday – Grass stressed and dying by Monday
• Week Three: Water on Tuesday, no rain – grass dead in weakest driest areas by Sunday, no chance of recovery
• Week Four: Water on Tuesday, Rain on Thursday – Grass does not recover and weak areas invaded by weeds

Repeat this scenario 2 to 3 times from April to July and you have a a battle scarred lawn.

3x per Week Watering

However lawns watered three times per week are uniform, mostly weed free, recover quickly from stress and  can be managed economically for weeds and chinch bugs.In other words, three times per week watering provides enough moisture to keep St Augustine healthy and vigorous, able to withstand other stresses such as heat, poor soils and biological stresses (i.e. nematodes), choke out weeds and recover quickly from stress or damage.Three times per week watering works!

Who Determines Irrigation Restrictions

So who is setting these policies? A non-elected government agency called Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD). SWFMD was created in 1961 to control flooding, expanded it’s powers to control the irrigation of lawns and in 2011 the fertilization of lawns. The purpose of controlling irrigation was to insure sustainable supply of drinking water. Yet the science of how irrigation in Pinellas County is directly linked to water supply is shaky, but the board has continued ever increasing restrictions on irrigation without evidence the reduction of irrigation has help sustain the water supply.

The powers who promote the water restrictions want the homeowner to accept the inevitable – A lawn that is a patchwork of weeds, dead grass and spots of healthy turf. Sprawling lawns are taboo in our “green” society and watering lawns is a misuse of resources and cannot be tolerated. Fines will be levied against all who think otherwise.

For more information on SWFWMD go to About SWFWMD

Conclusion

Once per week watering will not sustain a lawn and will not sustain the supply of drinking water. The solution is to have alternatives to both. I cannot do much to sustain the drinking water supply – we pay for that with taxes and fees. I have only one alternative to once per week watering: Dramatically change the way I manage your St Augustine lawn by 1) increasing the rates and amounts of chemicals to reduce stresses from weeds and insects and 2) add organic matter to the soil to improve water holding capacities. These will increase the cost of lawn spraying – no way around it. Water restrictions will cost you more!

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