Water is essential for a healthy lawn, especially during the hot and dry parts of a Minnesota or Wisconsin summer. But more water is not always better.
A lawn that stays consistently wet can develop a weaker root system, become more susceptible to disease, and even suffer direct damage from saturated soil. Too much water can come from excessive irrigation, poor sprinkler coverage, leaking irrigation equipment, low areas in the lawn, or drainage problems.
Understanding where the water is coming from is the first step toward correcting the problem.
How Does Too Much Water Hurt Grass?
Grass roots need both water and oxygen. When soil stays saturated for extended periods, water fills many of the spaces in the soil that would normally contain air. This reduces the oxygen available to the roots and can lead to poor root growth and eventually root deterioration.
The goal is not simply to give the lawn more water. It is to maintain enough moisture for healthy growth without keeping the soil continually saturated.
What Problems Can Too Much Water Cause?
Weak or Shallow Roots
Frequent, shallow irrigation encourages roots to remain closer to the surface. Excessively wet soil can also reduce oxygen in the root zone and inhibit healthy root development. Together, these conditions can leave the lawn less prepared for future heat and drought.
Increased Disease Pressure
Wet conditions can favor several turfgrass diseases. Excessive irrigation and poor drainage are associated with some root diseases, while extended periods of moisture on grass leaves can also favor certain foliar diseases.
Water is not necessarily the cause of the disease. A disease causing organism, susceptible grass and favorable environmental conditions all play a role. Excessive moisture can help create the conditions that allow some diseases to become more active.
Soft Soil and Ruts
Wet soil is much easier to damage. Driving a mower, lawn equipment or even repeated foot traffic across saturated soil can compress or displace the soil and create ruts.
If an area is extremely wet, avoiding traffic until it dries is usually better than trying to mow through it.
Standing Water and Turf Loss
The most severe situation occurs when water continually collects in an area and the soil remains saturated. Prolonged saturation deprives roots of oxygen and can eventually kill the grass. University of Minnesota Extension notes that lack of oxygen is a primary cause of turf damage following flooding.
Why Is One Part of My Lawn Always Wet?
If one area of the lawn is consistently wetter than everything around it, simply reducing the watering time may not solve the problem.
Common causes include:
- A sprinkler head applying too much water to one area
- A leaking irrigation line or sprinkler head
- Overlapping sprinkler coverage
- A low spot that collects water
- Downspouts directing water into the lawn
- Poorly draining soil
- Water moving onto the property from another area
- An irrigation system continuing to run despite recent rainfall
The location and pattern of the wet area can often provide clues about its cause.
What Can You Do If Your Lawn Is Getting Too Much Water?
Start by determining where the excess water is coming from.
Check your irrigation system for leaking or damaged sprinkler heads. Watch the system operate and look for areas receiving significantly more water than others. Adjust sprinkler heads or irrigation zones when necessary.
Your irrigation schedule should also change with the weather. A lawn does not need the same amount of supplemental irrigation following significant rainfall that it needs during a hot, dry period.
For consistently wet areas, look beyond the irrigation system. A low spot may need to be regraded so water can move away. In more significant situations, drainage improvements may be necessary.
Most importantly, avoid treating excessive water as a grass problem when it is really a water management or drainage problem. Repeatedly repairing the grass without correcting the source of the water will usually lead to the same problem returning.
What Can bioLawn Do?
When we see an area that appears excessively wet, our team can help identify the symptoms and let you know what we are observing.
The solution itself may require an irrigation or drainage professional, depending on what is causing the problem. Once the source of the excess water has been corrected, bioLawn can help repair damaged or thinned areas through seeding when appropriate.
Correcting the water problem should come first. Establishing new grass in an area that remains saturated is unlikely to provide a lasting solution.
How Can You Prevent Overwatering?
Healthy watering is about giving the lawn the water it needs without keeping the soil constantly wet.
For established lawns, deeper and less frequent watering generally encourages healthier rooting than frequent, shallow irrigation. Irrigation should also account for rainfall, temperature, soil conditions and the needs of the lawn rather than simply operating on the same schedule every week.
Periodically run your irrigation system while you are outside and watch where the water goes. Look for leaks, excessive overlap, runoff and areas where water collects.
A healthy lawn needs water. It also needs oxygen in the soil. Finding the right balance between the two helps develop a stronger root system and a lawn that is better prepared to handle the changing conditions of a Minnesota or Wisconsin growing season.