# No-irrigation pros



## CLT49er (Jun 19, 2020)

For you guys without irrigation AND a superb lawn, how do you manage everything?

- Applying only granular fert?
- Foliar liquid N? What rates? Watering in?
- Are you using manual sprinklers much?
- Are you timing apps up with rain?
- How about if you get too much rain?

So many times Ive tried to time my app with a light rain and then a monsoon rolls in.


----------



## Brackin4au (Jun 13, 2018)

It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. You're right, sometimes when timing with rain, it washes out... and sometimes it doesn't end up raining at all. I do a decent amount of hand watering/individual sprinkler work.


----------



## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

I spray urea. ..37lbs of N per 1 k. Try to do it before rain or I use the rain train the next morning to rinse off


----------



## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Hand water here and it sucks. I use mainly liquids and for fertilizer I put it down three days before the rain so hopefully the humidity will break it down enough not to get washed away


----------



## cka353s (Feb 11, 2019)

First time poster... long timer lurker.

I too struggled with this for a long time as I live in Coastal North Carolina and we are subject to either massive afternoon monsoons or extended dry periods. For the last couple of years I have started spoon feeding the granular (GreenTRX) at .25lb/k of lawn every 7-14 days (depending on rain)so that when I do get a monsoon of a rain very little product is wasted and the plant can hopefully absorb before it begins to leech out. I also hit the lawn with liquid foliar fertilizer (Haymaker from TSC) with each PGR app to provide additional nutrients in between the granular applications. This has proven to work extremely well for me and has built a stronger more resilient yard.

As for sprinklers its a variety of manual sprinklers and a couple hundred feet of hose so I almost never use sprinklers to water in my products.


----------



## Jacob_S (May 22, 2018)

I try to time with rain in most cases and when the expected rain doesn't arrive I'll drag the hose out if I am concerned. With the fertilizer I use (GreenTRX) I don't sweat it if it just sits for days without getting watered in, normal dew accumulation actually seems to break it down pretty well. For everything else that is sprayed I have never seen any adverse affects from not watering in, everything seems to work just fine waiting on rain or just getting absorbed at its own pace.


----------



## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

CenlaLowell said:


> Hand water here


Same here


> and it sucks. I use mainly liquids and for fertilizer I put it down three days before the rain so hopefully the humidity will break it down enough not to get washed away


Again, same. It does suck on a large property. Takes me three days to water the property, rotating sprinklers, and keeping the well running and not cycling. It's annoying, but cheaper than what I need to do to put in a suitable irrigation system.

I find I get far better results with liquids than granulars on everything. The one exception is I like the lowes sunniland blue bag with micros. I usually try to put it down when it's going to be dry for a while.

I know there is plenty of debate on whether it is helpful or not, but I do believe that adding humic acid into the mix last year helped my soil retain water better between rains. Humic I like granular, but mainly because the liquid made the seals in my hose end sprayer swell up.


----------



## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

For a 4k lawn, why not just put in irrigation? Personally I wouldn't go beyond putting out fertilizer once or twice a year, and pre-emergent without irrigation.


----------



## CLT49er (Jun 19, 2020)

SCGrassMan said:


> For a 4k lawn, why not just put in irrigation? Personally I wouldn't go beyond putting out fertilizer once or twice a year, and pre-emergent without irrigation.


Why not? Budget. 
2x year? Lol.


----------



## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

CLT49er said:


> SCGrassMan said:
> 
> 
> > For a 4k lawn, why not just put in irrigation? Personally I wouldn't go beyond putting out fertilizer once or twice a year, and pre-emergent without irrigation.
> ...


Right, that's what I'm saying. If budget is the issue, why waste all that product and then not give your grass the water it needs? If budget IS the issue, then put out minimal product.

If you're a do it yourselfer, its probably $900-$1200 to do a whole system. Not trying to be a jerk, but if thats a lot of money, having a fabulous lawn is probably not in the cards for you. I probably spend $300-$400 a year in chemicals alone.


----------



## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

I say this as a guy who was no irrigation before. I should have put in irrigation before sod. Everybody wants sod first because its a big visual improvement right away.


----------



## rotolow (May 13, 2020)

CLT49er said:


> SCGrassMan said:
> 
> 
> > For a 4k lawn, why not just put in irrigation? Personally I wouldn't go beyond putting out fertilizer once or twice a year, and pre-emergent without irrigation.
> ...


I think the point was that if it's completely un-irrigated (just relying on what falls from the sky) then investing a lot of money in chemicals might not garner you any better results than fertilizing a couple of times a year and putting down a yearly preE.

To your question tho, how about a traveling sprinkler, a few hundred feet of high quality hose, and a really nice hose reel? Eley is linked at the top and they make amazing hoses and hose reels that would make part of the task that much easier. At 4ksqft I think that method might not be too cumbersome.


----------



## BermudaBoy (Jun 27, 2019)

rotolow said:


> CLT49er said:
> 
> 
> > SCGrassMan said:
> ...


This right here. I'm right up the street from you, @CLT49er, with a slightly larger lawn. I use a Gilmour pattern master sprinkler in the front in back and have a gear sprinkler to cover the one side of my driveway the sprinkler doesn't reach and it works. With our climate and weather, with the exception of two years ago, I generally only have to use my sprinklers once a month to supplement rainfall.

I use granular fertilizer, granular pre-emergents and liquid apps of micros and iron. I time everything to be in line with normal rainfalls and avoid putting anything down if a monsoon is expected. It works well for me and my lawn hasn't suffered and I don't waste product and it's had a minimal impact on my water bill. I really focus on getting my lawn thick and healthy during the cooler spring months and I switch to higher potassium/low nitrogen apps in summer to deal with stress.


----------



## Botanicalstig (May 26, 2020)

Ive been using granular fert, iron & pre emergent. I'll take advantage of the rain if I can... But I've got a great portable sprinkler and I really don't mind moving it a few times for 30 minute shifts. We get rainfall pretty frequently so I rarely need supplemental water. I'll water a handful of times in the summer but typically just to water in product.

Permanent irrigation is great but really not necessary IMO. I think suggesting someone like me doesn't deserve a nice lawn because I don't want to spend money on irrigation is ridiculous... But whatever makes you feel macho :thumbup:


----------



## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

rotolow said:


> CLT49er said:
> 
> 
> > SCGrassMan said:
> ...


Wrong. You will get more rain in a year than your irrigation sprinkler could ever put out.


----------



## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Botanicalstig said:


> Ive been using granular fert, iron & pre emergent. I'll take advantage of the rain if I can... But I've got a great portable sprinkler and I really don't mind moving it a few times for 30 minute shifts. We get rainfall pretty frequently so I rarely need supplemental water. I'll water a handful of times in the summer but typically just to water in product.
> 
> Permanent irrigation is great but really not necessary IMO. I think suggesting someone like me doesn't deserve a nice lawn because I don't want to spend money on irrigation is ridiculous... But whatever makes you feel macho :thumbup:


Also I'm trying to plan for an irrigation this is not for the average diy dude this is an undertaking. That's the reason I haven't started yet. You definitely can have a nice yard without irrigation.


----------



## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

You can have a nice yard without irrigation.

I would question if you can have an "amazing yard by pros" without irrigation.

Some people are going to see a question like "what's the best way to do this thing that isn't a good idea" and answer that, and others of us are gonna say "save your money and do it right".

At the end of the day it will be up to him to decide for himself what's the best route to go.


----------



## Tmank87 (Feb 13, 2019)

Here's my Zoysia from last year. No irrigation. Of course I'd prefer it, but far from "necessary". Getting it set up/rooted is probably the biggest PITA sans irrigation.


----------



## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Ok I stand corrected &#128514;


----------



## jpos34 (Aug 31, 2019)

This thread has had me reading all day on the website provided in the irrigation section about the DIY sprinkler system. Rain train on my 8k takes a long time for it to get the full yard covered.


----------



## Tmank87 (Feb 13, 2019)

SCGrassMan said:


> Ok I stand corrected 😂


It's definitely not easy, that's for sure. Throwing on a timer and measuring for head to head coverage to put down an inch, that's living.

Gonna have to be at my next house, no going back now.


----------



## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

There are a bunch of folks on here with very nice yards without a sprinkler system. I'd say it takes more effort than if I had a system installed, but it still looks good. Once I started giving my yard some K I was able to go 7 days before it started turning brown when no water was provided. So to say that spending money on "lawn stuff" is a waste if you don't have irrigation is a contradiction if that "lawn stuff" will help you get more out of the water you do or don't get.


----------



## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

rjw0283 said:


> There are a bunch of folks on here with very nice yards without a sprinkler system. I'd say it takes more effort than if I had a system installed, but it still looks good. Once I started giving my yard some K I was able to go 7 days before it started turning brown when no water was provided. So to say that spending money on "lawn stuff" is a waste if you don't have irrigation is a contradiction if that "lawn stuff" will help you get more out of the water you do or don't get.


Mow some lawns in the neighborhood and save up!


----------



## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

SCGrassMan said:


> rjw0283 said:
> 
> 
> > There are a bunch of folks on here with very nice yards without a sprinkler system. I'd say it takes more effort than if I had a system installed, but it still looks good. Once I started giving my yard some K I was able to go 7 days before it started turning brown when no water was provided. So to say that spending money on "lawn stuff" is a waste if you don't have irrigation is a contradiction if that "lawn stuff" will help you get more out of the water you do or don't get.
> ...


NO! I'm too busy moving sprinklers


----------



## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Well for all the good it's done me... guy who put in sprinklers skipped a couple heads in some vital places, but I'm gonna try and get it all squared away this year.


----------



## trc (Jun 23, 2017)

cka353s said:


> First time poster... long timer lurker.
> 
> I too struggled with this for a long time as I live in Coastal North Carolina and we are subject to either massive afternoon monsoons or extended dry periods. For the last couple of years I have started spoon feeding the granular (GreenTRX) at .25lb/k of lawn every 7-14 days (depending on rain)so that when I do get a monsoon of a rain very little product is wasted and the plant can hopefully absorb before it begins to leech out. I also hit the lawn with liquid foliar fertilizer (Haymaker from TSC) with each PGR app to provide additional nutrients in between the granular applications. This has proven to work extremely well for me and has built a stronger more resilient yard.
> 
> As for sprinklers its a variety of manual sprinklers and a couple hundred feet of hose so I almost never use sprinklers to water in my products.


This is my strategy as well. I also added Tournament Ready to my arsenal last year with GREAT results.


----------



## ag_fishing (Feb 3, 2021)

As someone who has irrigation, I'd rather just manually move sprinklers around the yard, even with 34k of lawn. It's one thing after the other trying to chase issues or replace sprinkler heads with a 20 year old system.


----------



## Two_Rivers (Apr 5, 2019)

CLT49er said:


> For you guys without irrigation AND a superb lawn, how do you manage everything?


I pretty much only maintain with the reel mower what can be watered by one huge sprinkler in the front, front side, and backyard. The sides of the house and a portion of the back get the rotary treatment and minimal fert. Limits the amount of hose dragging early in the morning. Start watering at 5:30 and finished by the time I head to work.



If I figure out how much my time is worth and how much time I'm wasting with hoses and compare that to the cost of an irrigation system, It's a no brainer. Somehow other more important purchases come up. Go figure.


----------



## cldrunner (May 14, 2019)

I have a few neighbors that keep very nice common bermuda lawns without irrigation. My neighbor two doors down has a 1/2 acre irrigated and 1/2 acre non irrigated. You can not tell the difference except in very late July and August. Zero water on the non irrigated and it looks great. I think the big key is that he does not have weeds and he uses a very slow release fertilizer 3 times a year.

I have a few rentals that only get two pre-emergent applications a year and 1 summer weed control. They get NO fertilizer and no irrigation and look better than most of the lawns in the neighborhood. I think it is all about a very good pre and post control program.


----------



## SWB (Sep 22, 2018)

This pic was taken in July a few years ago. 1.5 acres of common seeded Bermuda cut at 2.5" - 3". No irrigation. It was a very healthy lawn with good PH & regular feedings.


----------

