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molladrian

When do I stop watering?

9 years ago

Planted KBG about a month ago. We had a few early freezes and not all the seeds germinated. Not only that, but lawn hasn't grown tall enough for me to mow it. It looks healthy green though.

Weather forecast looks like a 26 low on Wednesday and a 24 on Friday. Highs next couple of days looks like high 40's mid 50's.

1. Is it normal that I won't have to mow the first year?

2. When should I "winterize" and stop watering my lawn?

Comments (12)

  • 9 years ago

    If it gets that cold already where you live, you probably should have started seeding earlier. That said, kbg is very cold tolerant. I would only be mildly concerned.

  • 9 years ago

    Weather is crazy around here. It was 95 degrees on labor day. I waited after the heat wave to seed. Just woke up to a frost today. It's 23 degrees right now.

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here's what the weather looked like. I believe I waited until the 8th to seed.

  • 9 years ago

    Should i keep watering?

  • 9 years ago

    You water until the fall rains take over that chore for you.

  • 9 years ago

    that's nuts!


    at this time of year, there is usually sufficient rain to keep things moist. i certainly would not put the sprinklers on a timer but instead play it by ear. a month of good irrigation is usually plenty to insure that most of your kbg has germinated but if your sprinkler setup is not as good, you may want to continue short superficial waterings for another couple of weeks. do not let water pool at the surface or let the ground get too soft and mushy.

  • 9 years ago

    "You water until the fall rains take over that chore for you."

    Fall rains... that's a good one. It doesn't rain here in the desert.

    @mishmosh yeah, I have been playing it by year. Usually 10 minutes each zone (2 total zones with 3 sprinklers each). My sprinkler setup is pretty good I believe. Soil here drains well. It's pure sand. I mixed it with compost but it's still mostly sand.

    My concern is the temperature and "winterizing" my sprinkler setup. Friday's low has been updated to a low of 20.

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "Fall rains... that's a good one. It doesn't rain here in the desert."

    Well, you never bothered to let us know where exactly you were located, so a reasonable assumption. btw, if you really live in the desert, then KBG is NOT a good choice!! That is a cool season grass best left to the northern, non-desert areas of the country that receive plentiful rainfall.

  • 9 years ago

    @gardengal48 I live in the high desert in Central Oregon. It gets cold at night and from what I read it does great here (as opposed to West of the Cascades). I'm on a well so I can provide water... weather permitting. When does this grass usually go dormant? I didn't mean to come off as rude.

  • 9 years ago

    Adrian, the single most important thing we need to know is where you live. That tells us about your climate and about your soil. Several years ago I helped start a lawn forum, and one of the mandatory fields for membership is your location. Then with every post your location becomes part of the post. This forum was started back in the 90s before forum software became more sophisticated.

    So anyway, now that we know you live in the OR desert and not the AZ, CA, NM, or TX deserts, gardengal48 is who you need to listen to. Her take on your area is different from the rest of our experience.

  • 9 years ago

    I don't think @gardengal48 knows much about this area, @dchall_san_antonio. Judging from her comment about KBG not doing well here. All the books/articles I read from the oregon.gov page said KBG thrived here as opposed to West of the Cascades. Not trying to be a hater. Just saying that here in the high desert, things are different than the rest of the PNW. You can see by the drastic high/low temps I posted above. Can be as high as a 50 degree difference between day/night. This is zone 6a FWIW.

  • 9 years ago

    When I made the comment about the KBG, you had just indicated you lived in a desert.......not where that desert was located. And KBG is NOT a desert suited grass, as it requires frequent irrigation to look good. And is also not big on heat.

    If you look at grass type recommendations for your area - Central OR, east of Cascades - most sources suggest a mix or blend, with fescues/ryegrass being the primary components, with KGB comprising at most 50% of the mix. And, a tall fescue lawn in your area is also recommended as it is more drought tolerant than the KBG and of similar appearance and can go longer with less watering.

    KBG's dormant period is in summer, as is that of all the cool season grasses.