When it comes to irrigating your lawns or larger lifestyle block areas there are no hard and fast rules for watering, as this is based entirely upon your location in New Zealand, climate, any irrigation or water restrictions that may apply in your location, size of the area you wish to irrigate and contour of the land.

However, as lifestyle block owners seem to have larger grass and/or lawn areas, we have endeavoured to put together some general advice and tips to assist you in looking after your newly seeded spacious lawn or larger grass area (such as for a grass horse riding arena).

Irrigation systems should obviously have head-to-head coverage; therefore if you are getting quotes from a specialist irrigation company or consultant, you will need to ensure that they quote for the entire spacing you require. Don’t forget that the choices for sprinkler head and nozzle sizes is pretty much limitless, for this reason it is important to have an irrigation system that doesn’t deliver too little, or too much water, per nozzle head.

If your budget doesn’t allow you to have a full coverage of irrigation, don’t despair, you can simply move hoses around your property and keep watering the drier spots.

Don’t get wet and wild with your irrigation system! Remember, the idea of any watering system is simply to supplement rain fall, which is pretty important during the drier summer months, however, we do see many people that have gone over-board with the watering, please remember, that over-watering your lawns or garden not only means you could cause the roots to ferment and rot, it also means you could be wasting precious water!

Just as you can kill an indoor plant by over-watering, you can cause similar problems with your grass if watered too much. Grass roots require oxygen; therefore if you are over zealous with the watering, you could cause the roots to eventually rot.

However, if you have newly seeded/sown lawn planted in the summer, then you cannot over water! The general rule of thumb for irrigating new seed is to ensure the area stays very wet. The seeds must remain moist in order to germinate, and once the seeds begin to sprout then the top inch of soil should never be allowed to dry out until the grass is well established. You may find this means you will need to water with high frequency during the day to protect new grass from the drying effects of sun and wind.

One of the most often questions we are asked once we have seeded a new lawn is “when is the best time to water my lawn?” we suggest that you try and do all your watering in the early morning, and set your irrigation timer to finish by mid/late morning. By sticking to an early morning regime means your lawn and ground surface will have plenty of time to dry with the wind and sun before it is nightfall. Late evening watering can also encourage the growth of fungus and the heat of the day during mid afternoon can result in waste water.

North Canterbury residents should contact their local district council for clarification on local irrigation and any restrictions that may apply.

Some of the most popular tools for watering grass include:

Hand-held nozzle sprayer: This device screws onto the end of your hose and is hand operated, which allows you to regulate the flow of water used. However, the drawback of this system is that it takes an incredibly long time to water a lawn and the sprayer doesn’t allow for even water flow. This can result in an uneven growth in the lawn.

Soaker hose: A popular New Zealand choice as it is affordable and disburses the water at an even rate for deep down soaking. The downside of this type of watering system is that you have to keep moving the soaker hose and it is more suited to gardens and not lawns.

Fountain sprinkler: Also attached to the end of your hose. Great for small areas, plus easy to set up and inexpensive, however very unsuitable for bigger areas.

Oscillating sprinkler: This also attaches to the end of your hose, however it disperses water as the sprinkler bar moves back and forth. Another great cost effective sprinkler system, however this sprinkler is renowned for having a higher evaporation rate.

Fan sprinkler: Has the same features as the sprinkler mentioned above, however it waters the lawn in a circle. This is great for round or irregularly shaped lawns however it does have the same evaporation rate as the sprinkler mentioned above.

Impulse sprinkler: Another hose end device that breaks the water stream to shoot a broad spray. A great style of sprinkler however it does require a high pressure to operate properly and is designed for larger lifestyle block lawns.