WaterWise lawns
Lawns require more water than other areas of your garden and therefore offer the best opportunity to help you conserve water and save money.Lawn areas should be designed to be practical and useful, not just a “fill-in” area in your garden.
You can reduce your lawn area by interspersing it with paving and planting ground covers.
The type of grass you choose is also important. Your local nursery or turf grower can offer valuable advice on water efficient grasses suitable for your area.
Some drought resistant grasses include:
- Sir Walter soft leaf buffalo
- Palmetto
- Windsor green couch
- Dawson creeping bluegrass
- Greenlees Park couch
Here are a few simple tips to follow in order to reduce water use on your lawns:
- Only water when the grass shows signs of stress – a loss of bright colour and a slight wilting. At this stage you have 24 to 48 hours to give the lawn a good, deep drink of water. By watering your lawn less frequently, you are ensuring a deep root system and a healthy lawn as your grass searches for water in the soil.
- An efficient irrigation system can reduce the amount of water your lawn consumes.
- Cutting down on water use means you can reduce fertiliser use. Fertilisers with manure content are ideal, as they help maintain the level of organic matter in the soil.
- Mowers should be set so that only one third of the leaf area is removed at any one time. A leaf length of some 15 to 25 mm should be retained – up to 40 mm in very hot weather – to protect the soil surface and reduce evaporation loss.
- Extra organic matter mixed through the top 15cm of soil will improve the water and nutrient holding capacity of soil. Unfortunately the only real opportunity to do this is before the lawn is established.
Last updated: 05 October 2005
