My neighbor in Phoenix told me to stop watering my lawn every day and I thought she was nuts

She's lived here for like 40 years and I just moved in last summer. My grass was looking brown and sad so I was hitting it with sprinklers every morning. She came over and said I was drowning the roots and to only water twice a week but deep. I argued for a solid week before trying her way. Now three months later my lawn is greener than hers. I still don't get how less water equals more grass but here we are. Has anyone else had someone give them gardening advice that went completely against what you thought was right?

2 comments

2 Comments

reese5504d ago

nah man i gotta disagree. ive been watering my bermuda every single day for years and my lawn is stupid green. roots are fine. the whole "drowning the roots" thing sounds like old timer gatekeeping. if its hot out and the grass looks thirsty, i say water it.

ryan_stone4d ago

Man I used to be the exact same way. Thought daily watering was just common sense for a green lawn. Then my dad finally sat me down and explained that plants need to stretch their roots deep to find water, and daily sprinkling keeps them lazy near the surface. It felt totally backwards at first but now I swear by deep weekly watering. Your grass roots grow way stronger when they have to search for moisture instead of getting a little sip every morning. Plus you save on the water bill which is nice.