News post

As summer heat sets in across Texas, keeping your lawn healthy doesn't have to mean skyrocketing water bills or wasteful irrigation. With a few simple adjustments to your landscape routine, you can maintain a vibrant yard while conserving water.

Here are essential summer lawn care tips to protect your lawn and save water this season:

• The Footprint Test: Before turning on the sprinklers, step on your lawn. If the grass springs back up after you step off, it doesn't need water yet.

• Leave It Long: Raise your mower blade to keep grass taller (around 2 inches or longer). Longer grass blades promote deeper, more drought-resistant root growth, shade the soil to reduce evaporation, and help crowd out weeds.

• Water During Non-Daylight Hours: Schedule irrigation for early morning or late evening. Watering during the hot afternoon leads to heavy water loss through evaporation before the soil can absorb it.

• Take a Sprinkler Break: Remember that grass isn't naturally meant to stay bright green all summer long. Letting your lawn enter a natural, mild dormancy during extreme heat breaks reduces total water demand without harming long-term turf health.

• Get Personalized Recommendations: Tools like the https://watermyyard.org/Water My Yard program (developed with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension) deliver custom weekly watering advice based on local weather data—helping you avoid overwatering.

Taking these quick steps helps protect your property, lower your monthly utility bill, and preserve our local water supply throughout the hot summer months.