Quote:
Originally Posted by return to the red
I'll add my input on the watering and the sprinkler system. I don't agree with the watering once through the week to get an inch for turf here is the reason.
It is recommended that you put down an inch NET each week on your lawn but think about this...If you have gear drives (the sprinklers that rotate back and forth) they put down a precipitation rate of roughly .4 inches per hour that means you would have to water 3 hours on 1 zone if you factor in the effciency of sprinkler systems is usually around 80-90% if designed correctly. If you happen to have 5 zones you will be watering for 15 hours in 1 day, not really smart plus putting an inch of water down in 1 day won't be beneficial because your soil only has a certain water holding capacity, once you reach that point any excess is runoff and just wasted.
second reason why I don't recommend watering once a week is plant stress. A lot can happen in a week and leaving your lawn a full week before absolutely saturating it can do more harm then good, remember not all of that inch of water is actually going to be taken in from the grass.
I recommend watering 3 times a week approx 20 minutes each time for spray heads and 60 minutes for gear drives. You may have to...check that you WILL have to make adjustments throughout the season but just use your seasonal adjust on your controller to increase or decrease run times based on a percentage. Also I should note the run times i gave you are a base schedule to start with, depending on what nozzling may have been put in, the exposure, outside weather conditions, soil conditions and personal appeal you WILL have to make some adjustments.
Any other questions just ask, I'm a Certified Irrigation Designer
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Some differing points regarding the hi-lited portions of your posting.
To suggest or hint that 1" of water would exceed the holding capacity of the turf and the sub-soil to the point of runoff is stretching not only the probability, but as well as the possibility. Keeping in mind turf has 1/2" of thatch (more in some cases) and is rooted into a minimum 4" of soil, you can see the difficulty in achieving any surface perched water table and/or runoff.
Unless Photon purchased his sod from some back alley sod dealer, I would bet a house and a boat that the blend of Kentucky in the sod is of the higher-end quality. Typically in newer sod, the blends consist of Alpine, Mercury and the ever present standard, Touchdown. These cultivars are all very heat and drought tolerant. I for one would not miss a heart beat or lose any sleep because my grass has not received water or has not been "absolutely saturated" in a weeks time. In fact, marginal drought stress increases and promotes rooting of the turf plant.
p.s. If 1" of water is the saturation point of anyone's turf, they have more issues than deciding what their watering schedule should be