Healthy lawns require about one inch of water per week, but your climate and soil conditions may dictate more or less watering. If you live in a sandy area, you may have to water more often and if your lawn is planted in heavy clay you may need to water less often. For the most robust lawn, water infrequently and deeply. Allowing the ground to dry between watering encourages vigorous, deep root growth and watering infrequently weakens those nasty, nutrient-stealing shallow-rooted weeds. In addition, if your lawn has nice deep roots it will be able to withstand and bounce back from drought-like conditions more easily.
If you have a new lawn it will require more watering than an established lawn. If the weather is dry you may even have to water the lawn every day for a while. Offer enough water to keep the soil moist in the beginning, but be careful not to over-water, which can cause seeds to rot and encourages disease. Taper off the watering schedule as the grass becomes more established.
Choosing how to water your lawn will depend on your yard size, budget and the amount of time you have to spend watering. An in-ground irrigation system can be a great benefit if you have a large yard and little time but a healthy budget. Once it’s installed you can set the timer and forget about it. You can save yourself a good deal of money by installing the system yourself.
If you have a small yard and some time on your hands there is a wide variety of sprinklers available to water virtually any shape yard. The rain train style sprinklers allow you to lay out your hose like a track to guide the tractor-like sprinkler, propelled by a water-powered transmission, as it moves around your lawn, saving you precious time to sit and enjoy your lush, green lawn.