Bermuda grass is a vigorous warm-season turf that thrives in heat and full sun. Maintaining its dense, green appearance requires precise irrigation to encourage deep root development. This strategy helps the lawn withstand periods of heat and drought. Understanding when and how much water to apply is key to achieving a healthy, resilient lawn, and the ideal schedule changes based on the lawn’s maturity and environment.
Optimal Watering Schedule for Mature Lawns
The most effective watering strategy for an established Bermuda lawn is deep and infrequent irrigation. This method encourages the roots to grow downward, seeking moisture deep within the soil profile. A mature lawn requires 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week during the active growing season, typically achieved by watering two to three times a week.
Applying this water volume in fewer sessions allows the soil’s upper layer to dry out between watering periods. This dry period stimulates deeper root growth, which can extend 4 to 6 inches down. The time of day for irrigation is also important, with the period between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. being the most suitable window.
Watering in the early morning allows moisture to soak into the root zone before the heat of the day causes excessive evaporation. The grass blades also have time to dry completely as the morning progresses, which significantly reduces the risk of fungal diseases. Watering late in the evening or at night is discouraged because prolonged leaf wetness creates an ideal environment for pathogens.
To accurately determine how long your sprinklers must run to deliver the target amount, use a simple measurement technique. Place several straight-sided containers, such as tuna cans or rain gauges, across the lawn while the irrigation system is running. Measure the water collected after a set period to calculate your system’s application rate in inches per hour. This allows you to precisely set the duration needed to deliver approximately 0.5 to 0.75 inches of water per session, two or three times each week.
How Soil and Weather Impact Watering Frequency
The general recommendation of watering two to three times per week is a baseline that must be adjusted based on the specific soil type and weather conditions. Different soil textures affect how quickly water is absorbed and how long it is retained near the root zone. Understanding the soil composition is necessary to prevent water waste through runoff or insufficient hydration.
Soil Type Adjustments
For lawns with sandy soil, water drains very quickly, leading to poor moisture retention. This means the lawn requires shorter, more frequent watering sessions to maintain adequate soil moisture. You may need to water a sandy-based lawn every three days or so, applying a slightly smaller volume, like 0.5 inches per session, to prevent the water from leaching past the root zone. Conversely, clay soil has a much finer particle structure and holds water for a longer duration.
Clay soil lawns should be watered less frequently than sandy lawns, perhaps once or twice a week, but the duration should remain long to ensure deep penetration. The slow absorption rate of clay soil often necessitates cycle soaking. This technique involves pausing the watering after a short period to allow absorption before resuming, which prevents surface runoff and ensures the water reaches the intended depth.
Weather Conditions
Weather conditions, particularly temperature and wind, directly influence the rate of evapotranspiration (ET). This is the total loss of water from the soil and the plant. During periods of extreme heat or high wind, the ET rate increases, meaning the grass loses water faster than usual. In these conditions, the weekly water requirement may increase toward the upper end of the recommendation, sometimes requiring up to 1.5 inches per week. If the area receives significant rainfall, the irrigation schedule should be temporarily paused, as the weekly target of 1 to 1.5 inches must always include any precipitation to avoid overwatering.
Watering Schedules for New Bermuda Grass
Watering a newly planted Bermuda lawn, whether from sod or seed, requires a different approach than a mature lawn. The initial goal is to keep the upper layer of the soil consistently moist to facilitate germination and root establishment. This temporary phase requires frequent, shallow watering.
For the first one to three weeks after planting, the top inch of soil where the roots are beginning to form must not be allowed to dry out. This often translates to watering multiple times a day, perhaps three to four short sessions. Each session should be brief, usually lasting only a few minutes, to prevent runoff and oversaturation of the soil.
Once the new roots have started to take hold—typically after two to three weeks—a gradual transition to the mature lawn schedule begins. The frequency should be slowly reduced, moving from multiple daily sessions to once per day, and then to every other day. Simultaneously, the duration of each watering session needs to be increased to encourage the roots to grow deeper into the soil. Within four to six weeks, the lawn should be transitioned to the deep, infrequent watering schedule of an established turf.