But you water them the same.
Really.
This is the story of a root. That’s right, the root of a blade of grass in your yard right now. Your roots live in the “root zone”––about 4 inches below the surface of the soil. That 4-inch depth is the target for all water if your precious root is going to get a drink.
Let’s look at what happens when you water. If you have Sandy soil, the water soaks in readily. So readily, in fact, that the water passes your root as it is traveling merrily to the center of the earth. The end result is your root misses the water.
On the other hand, if you have clay soil, the water can’t penetrate down to the root zone, so it stays on top in the form of runoff. Again, your root doesn’t get the benefit of the moisture.
There’s a simple solution to both scenarios.
If your normal watering routine was 20 min. three times a week for spray zones and one hour, three times a week for rotor zones, consider dividing that watering schedule into smaller doses and do them more often.
Your spray zones were getting 60 min. of water per week, so try dividing that time into multiple waterings every day. If you watered 4 min. on each spray zone, but you did it twice a day, everyday, you would be using the same amount of water and you would be cooperating with soil type. The water would have time to penetrate your clay soil down to the desired 4 inches in clay soil, and you would put so much water on that it ran down the curb. The same goes for sandy soil. The smaller dose easily travels to the root zone, but that’s all. There’s not the flood of water that forces it past your roots.
This advice is counter from the wisdom you’ll get on TV, but that’s because we are not blessed with loamy soil with 85 degree maximum temperatures. Don't worry, though. I heard we're supposed to get a cold front . . . sometime in October!
If you're struggling with your sprinkler system, maybe we can help. The call is free. Call Drew at 829-3800.
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