2 times a week should be no problem if you are practicing deep and infrequent watering.

 

You should be watering once a week if able, twice if you experience run-off (1 inch total per week incl. rain).

 

As long as you can put down about an inch of water a week your only limit will be how smooth your lawn is and how many times a week you want to cut it.
Below 1/2 inch is hard to maintain without some type of growth regulator.

 

You're going to see a lot of advice, a lot of it very similar, on how / when to water. "1" / week blah blah blah" is the internet mantra. Fact is, there isn't a single person in the forum who can accurately tell you how much / often you need to water. Your hoc, soil texture, temp / humidity, shade, wind, expectations etc. all factor into your watering schedule. No one here knows 1 of those facts, so giving you advice on times and depths is nothing but a shot in the dark. We could be neighbors, and I could run three 30 minute cycles a week, but when you try the same, you get soggy midway through the second cycle, or maybe you start having runoff after 12 minutes. There are a litany of factors that influence how / when you water.

I don't know your hoc, but I am familiar with the temps that you experience. 100 degree heat, plus the humidity, will have your ET number approaching close to .35" for a single day. Have a few of those days back-to-back and all of a sudden your ET is well over 1". Then what? You were told to only water 1", right? Disregard any advice you read on here / internet about how long / when you should irrigate your lawn. Get out in the yard and see what your yard likes. It wont take long to get an idea on an irrigation routine.

/rant

 

...and I can only water twice a week...

How much do you water before restrictions?!

I start watering - no restrictions - once a week.

 

If you have a smart irrigation controller and nearby weather station, you'll be able to water when necessary. The 1" per week is a rule of thumb only (obviously). Let your toes and eyes tell you when you need to increase or decrease the water. A weather station calculating E/T is nice, too (a rate of evaporation).

 

You can cut as low at want but factors like lawn smoothness, Cut frequency and watering come into play....

I would shoot fr scalping at a certain height, then raise the HOC to what you think you would like at mow couple times a week. yard will look great!!

 

If you have a smart irrigation controller and nearby weather station, you'll be able to water when necessary. The 1" per week is a rule of thumb only (obviously). Let your toes and eyes tell you when you need to increase or decrease the water. A weather station calculating E/T is nice, too (a rate of evaporation).

You're going to see a lot of advice, a lot of it very similar, on how / when to water. "1" / week blah blah blah" is the internet mantra. Fact is, there isn't a single person in the forum who can accurately tell you how much / often you need to water. Your hoc, soil texture, temp / humidity, shade, wind, expectations etc. all factor into your watering schedule. No one here knows 1 of those facts, so giving you advice on times and depths is nothing but a shot in the dark. We could be neighbors, and I could run three 30 minute cycles a week, but when you try the same, you get soggy midway through the second cycle, or maybe you start having runoff after 12 minutes. There are a litany of factors that influence how / when you water.

I don't know your hoc, but I am familiar with the temps that you experience. 100 degree heat, plus the humidity, will have your ET number approaching close to .35" for a single day. Have a few of those days back-to-back and all of a sudden your ET is well over 1". Then what? You were told to only water 1", right? Disregard any advice you read on here / internet about how long / when you should irrigate your lawn. Get out in the yard and see what your yard likes. It wont take long to get an idea on an irrigation routine.

/rant

How can I find the ET for my area?

 

If you have a smart irrigation controller and nearby weather station, you'll be able to water when necessary. The 1" per week is a rule of thumb only (obviously). Let your toes and eyes tell you when you need to increase or decrease the water. A weather station calculating E/T is nice, too (a rate of evaporation).

You're going to see a lot of advice, a lot of it very similar, on how / when to water. "1" / week blah blah blah" is the internet mantra. Fact is, there isn't a single person in the forum who can accurately tell you how much / often you need to water. Your hoc, soil texture, temp / humidity, shade, wind, expectations etc. all factor into your watering schedule. No one here knows 1 of those facts, so giving you advice on times and depths is nothing but a shot in the dark. We could be neighbors, and I could run three 30 minute cycles a week, but when you try the same, you get soggy midway through the second cycle, or maybe you start having runoff after 12 minutes. There are a litany of factors that influence how / when you water.

I don't know your hoc, but I am familiar with the temps that you experience. 100 degree heat, plus the humidity, will have your ET number approaching close to .35" for a single day. Have a few of those days back-to-back and all of a sudden your ET is well over 1". Then what? You were told to only water 1", right? Disregard any advice you read on here / internet about how long / when you should irrigate your lawn. Get out in the yard and see what your yard likes. It wont take long to get an idea on an irrigation routine.

/rant

How can I find the ET for my area?

Get a weather station or find an online tool that will help you. I'm not sure, but weatherunderground might have that feature.

If you go the weather station route, you can pair it with the irrigation system and have an irrigation plan that only puts back what has been lost.

 

Do golf courses water only once a week?

 

Do golf courses water only once a week?

Not at all. When it's hot, humid, and dry, I can easily run 600-800k gallons a night (I have 560k going off in about 26 minutes - and I had .48" Sunday afternoon). And then do it again the next night. Once I get beyond a certain point, it's impossible to keep up, and I start to get brown - greens are the exception, they get water regardless.

 

Golf course greens often have different sand/soil content than the typical DIY'er. So what they do, or what a lawn care pro uses as far as equipment, doesn't correlate or often matter. Their budgets are bigger too.

Instead of E/T, soil moisture probes tell you what the soil actually has as far as moisture, whereas E/T is simply a mathematical calculation.

Many members here (who actually post photos here for proof) maintain less than a half inch. I'd recommend starting there and see how it goes. Cheers.

 

Golf course greens often have different sand/soil content than the typical DIY'er. So what they do, or what a lawn care pro uses as far as equipment, doesn't correlate or often matter. Their budgets are bigger too.

Instead of E/T, soil moisture probes tell you what the soil actually has as far as moisture, whereas E/T is simply a mathematical calculation.

Many members here (who actually post photos here for proof) maintain less than a half inch. I'd recommend starting there and see how it goes. Cheers.

But most golf course fairways / tees are built on native soil, so, in that regard (+ turf type & hoc), it's pretty comparable. Greens, yes, not an accurate portrayal of how a lawn should be managed.

the only moisture meters worth purchasing are POGO / Spectrum TDR (price prohibitive for most homeowners).

E:

 

the only moisture meters worth purchasing are POGO / Spectrum TDR (price prohibitive for most homeowners).

I respectfully disagree those are the only ones DIY'ers should consider.

 

the only moisture meters worth purchasing are POGO / Spectrum TDR (price prohibitive for most homeowners).

I respectfully disagree those are the only ones DIY'ers should consider.

Yeah I said that. Not many folks would be willing to drop $1,300-$1,800 on a moisture meter, however.

 

@viva_oldtrafford your yard looks amazing. It could be a golf course! :lol:

 

What kind of Bermuda do you have. If it's common then stay over 1/2 inch.

 

What kind of Bermuda do you have. If it's common then stay over 1/2 inch.

Sadly, I have a mixture of common and tiff. The combo looks terrible and eventually I want to fix it somehow. Why would common bermuda need to be kept higher?

 

Common gets stressed under 1/2". You can cut lower to try to get the tiff to take it over. I would get on the pgr train, it will make the mix easier to look at and you can keep your sanity not having to mow everyday trying to maintain.