Pointers that may help you solve any watering problems you might encounter:

- The best time to water your lawn is early morning or late at night when there’s no wind and when water pressure will be high.

- If you live in an arid climate where water shortages could occur, but you still want a lawn, consider planting more drought-tolerant grasses. If you live in a coll-season area, try tall fescue varieties. In a warm-season area, plant Bermuda grasses, St. Augustine or zosia grasses.

- If you have a water runoff problem due to heavy clay soil or dry subsoil, you can have the lawn aerated with an aerator that removes plugs of soil. but spiking soil is not recommended since the spikes are  compact the soil around the holes they drive.  Other solutions to runoff problems include slowing down the delivery rate of your sprinkler so the soil can absorb the water, or selecting a sprinkler that emits water more slowly. Another good solution is to run sprinkler at full rate until runoff starts, shut them off for a half hour so the soil can absorb the water then repeat the process.

- An observant turf gardener may be able to judge when lawn needs water by its appearance. Grass shows its need for water first by loss of resilience. When you walk accross it, the grass doesn’t spring back. Next, the color changes from fresh green and takes on a dull, gray green overcast. Then grass tops turn brown and die.  Once you can sense this timing, try to water just before the loss of resilience. Don’t let your lawn get to the brown stage, it will take considerable time to come back from the crowns.

If you are willing to accept a lawn that turns brown in winter consider the Bermudas, St. Augustine grass and Zoysia grasses - Three types of subtropical grasses that are very drought tolerant.

All subtropical grasses do best in  warm climates. They survive temperatures down to 20 degrees F. and thrive in summer highs of 110 degrees. Fertilize all of these grasses with a high nitrogen fertilizer at least once in fall and once in winter. In summer, fertilize at 6-week intervals.

The Bermuda - These grasses need the least amount of water because of their deep roots. Plant either by sod or stolons (4-6 bushels of stolons per 1,000 sq. ft.) Mow the bermuda grass as low as possible.

St. Augustine Grass - Plant from sod, stolons ( 6 bushels/ 1,000 sq. ft., or plugs. To plant plugs from flats, use 10 flats/ 1,000 sq ft., placing 2 inch plugs in rows about 10 inches apart. Keep the ground moist until grass is established.

Zoysia Grasses - These grasses need warm nights for best growth. They are commonly planted from plugs or stolons. Allow 10-14 months for grass to fill in.