Help control water bill Looking to overseed this fall

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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Jtmc
Posts: 1
Joined: August 18th, 2018, 9:51 pm
Location: Central NJ
Grass Type: Fescue mix
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Help control water bill Looking to overseed this fall

Post by Jtmc » August 18th, 2018, 10:05 pm

Came across this forum when doing research. Valuable info and great knowledge exchange. Hoping for some advice.

My water bills are topping $200 this summer. Mostly due to my lawn. I do have a pool, but the lawn is a water hog.

I have been been researching some new seed options and would like to overseed in the fall. I live in central New Jersey and most of my lawn gets full sun. I do have one section that is mostly shade.

I dont mind the weekly mowing. I just don’t want to water as much (a few times a week). Would like to cut down watering to maybe once every few weeks.

I have researched Pearls Premium but have not gotten a good feeling on this. Also thinking of Zoysia but not excited about the way it looks past summer.

Any words of wisdom?

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: Help control water bill Looking to overseed this fall

Post by bpgreen » August 19th, 2018, 8:02 pm

Welcome to the forum!

Depending on how much rain you get, you may not be able to cut back to once every few weeks. I get no rain and only water every three weeks or so, but I've got mostly prairie grasses, and they probably wouldn't do well where you are.

However, you also shouldn't need to water a few times a week. Your grass probably needs about 3/4 inch to 1 inch of water a week. It's best if it's applied all at once so it goes deep into the soil, which helps the grass to develop deep roots (if there is always water in the top half inch of soil, your grass will end up with roots that are only a half inch deep). To determine how long it takes to apply water, set some empty tuna cans around the lawn when you water. Then check how full they are (they don't need to be tuna cans, but tuna cans are a good size for this). If the water starts to run off before an inch is down, stop watering just as it starts to run off. You can cycle back an hour or so later to give the water a chance to soak in.

Mowing high can also help. When the blades are taller, they help shade the soil, keeping it cooler, which helps reduce evaporation. It can also help the grass grow deeper roots. When you mow, try to remove no more than 1/3 of the blade. So if you let the grass grow to 4.5 inches, mow it no lower than 3 inches.

Green
Posts: 6837
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
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Re: Help control water bill Looking to overseed this fall

Post by Green » August 20th, 2018, 12:41 am

The middle third of this Summer was a bit rougher than usual here in the Northeast. As an example, if I had stuck to once a week watering at one inch with my sandy loam soil, the lawn would have been toast. Actually, parts of the lawn were toast (brown), and still are. Some are just starting to show the first signs of recovery from dormancy this week.

My most infrequently irrigated areas are doing the worst. Those areas were watered 5 or less times this year, and are 95% brown. Even some of the areas watered twice per week at a half inch in July show profound dormancy even now.

In hindsight, I would have had to add a third half-inch watering session per week during the month of July in order to mostly compensate. Evapotranspiration data from my irrigation system confirms this...ET was 0.2 inch per day on average in much of July, which would have necessitated 1.4 inches of irrigation per week. There was no rain during the majority of this period.

Just thought this summary would provide a good reference frame, since the original poster is also in the Northeast and likely encountered similar weather conditions.

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: Help control water bill Looking to overseed this fall

Post by bpgreen » August 20th, 2018, 10:03 pm

I'm usually reluctant to respond to questions like this because I know my conditions (and grasses) are fairly unique. The main reason I replied was because it was a new post and was almost a day old at the time. I was hoping my response would bump it to get a response from somebody with better insight.

Fullheadofturf1234
Posts: 176
Joined: June 10th, 2018, 1:41 pm
Location: Southeast Michigan
Grass Type: KBG I think
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
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Re: Help control water bill Looking to overseed this fall

Post by Fullheadofturf1234 » August 25th, 2018, 11:00 am

My neighbor who has increased pressure to keep his lawn looking nice waters daily lol.


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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Re: Help control water bill Looking to overseed this fall

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » August 31st, 2018, 6:37 pm

Here is a picture of morpheuspa's lawn versus his neighbors' lawns. The picture was taken in July a few years ago.

Image
The difference between his deep green lawn and the neighbors' lawns is that he waters deeply and infrequently while the others water daily.

To the OP, check with your county extension agent to see which of the wheatgrasses grows well in your area. Also check if blue grama grows well. bpgreen used blue grama along with the wheatgrass varieties which do well in the Rocky Mountains. I would expect his grasses would be different from yours. The secret to making a lawn out of prairie grasses is to seed them densely. That doesn't happen in the wild, but you can do it. Then mow it at the mower's highest setting, and water deeply when you water. bpgreen never posts pictures of his lawn unless I nag and nag. Here's the last one I have of his lawn.

Image
He planted the strawberry clover on purpose.

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: Help control water bill Looking to overseed this fall

Post by bpgreen » September 1st, 2018, 12:51 am

I posted a bunch of pictures recently. They were old pictures, but things haven't changed that much (except where I'm getting more blue grama to grow). I'll try taking some pictures next year after getting even more blue grama established.

I doubt if any of the wheatgrass varieties would do well in New Jersey, with the possible exception of western wheatgrass. I also don't think blue grama grows well that far east.

There may be native grasses that can be used in NJ, but I think you can water much less with traditional lawn grasses than you are. I think I'd be inclined to try that approach first if I were you.

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