How I Use WAY LESS Water To Keep My Lawn Green In The Summer | Irrigation & Hydretain Tips

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In this video I explain the two most important reasons why I can keep my cold season lawn green and growing even in extremely hot weather without any rain.
I use really deliberate irrigation practices that limit my water usage and I apply water retention products to my lawn during the hottest parts of the year. In this particular video, I applied Hydretain to my lawn in early summer to give my soil an edge on evaporative loss throughout the duration of summer.
► I purchased my small bottle of Hydretain through Amazon. You can price it out through this affiliate link: www.amazon.com...
► For larger lawns or for people that want to apply through standard backpack or pump sprayers... or for people that want to buy in volume at better per ounce pricing a better option can be found through this affiliate link: shrsl.com/460ng
► As I mentioned in the video Hydretain is only the most obvious option for this type of product. There are other alternatives out there. If you'd like to see my overview of the best Hydretain alternatives then see this article on my website: turfmechanic.c...
► Lastly, I would encourage all viewers of this video to see my full guide to summer lawn care where I cover many important concepts that will help your lawns stay healthy through the summer giving you the best starting point for Autumn, the best time of the year for lawns IMO. You can see my summer lawn care guide here: • Super Important Pre-Su...
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Опубликовано:

7 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 105

@TurfMechanic Год назад

►►► Want to fix your lawn for the long haul but don't know where to start? I can help! Click here right now and get started today: turfmech.link/dont-know-where-to-start ◄◄◄

@C-130-Hercules Год назад

The product works. I don't have a sprinkler system. I live in Florida. I put 1 gallon of this heavily on my front yard which gets direct sun, 90% of the day and it is pristine. My neighbors have sprinkler systems and my yard looks better than theirs.

@TurfMechanic Год назад

Awesome to hear you've gotten serious benefits from it too!

@phizz8694 3 месяца назад

This gives me hope for my front lawn. Used it last night and noticed the temp here in Colorado is picking up. Supposed to be close to 90 next week.

@KA5175 2 месяца назад

I’ve been filling/leveling my yard then overseeding the last couple of years to build it back up from dogs or pedestrian traffic. Once the seed goes down, I use hydretain. It’s been great. Sure I water more where the seed goes down (I only seed specific spots.) The rest of the yard flourishes with the less water. I’ll water more at dawn when we have extreme heat but it’s all hand watering with a hose. I live in the pacific northwest and people near me don’t tend to water at all. Maybe it’s to be a water conservationist. I love hanging out in my yard enjoying the plants.

@pksabastian7896 Месяц назад

Yeah, but you live in warm season grasses

@ms.t.7319 2 года назад

5 oz of plain Dawn dish liquid and 9 oz of hydretain worked well!! I removed the hydretain right from that bottle.

@alonzowea5791 2 года назад

Did you mix the dawn and hydretain together or how did you apply it?

@paulbaratta1566 2 года назад

Has worked wonders for me for 3-years. Down to 2 deep watering a week when hit, turn off irrigation when not over 85 for a few days. This stuff is awesome!

@GoatZilla 2 года назад

lol 85

@LonghornsLegend Год назад

I'm in Dallas and Hydretain is the one thing that saves my lawn every summer. I spray it once on July 1st and it's all I need, helps immensely. We will be over 100 for weeks no rain, soil gets dried out otherwise but I use this and it's the one product I won't go without

@reginaldblair4226 Год назад

I’m in Dallas also and put it down for the first time yesterday evening.😊

@LonghornsLegend Год назад

@@reginaldblair4226 perfect timing 👍🏾 100 days are coming this week, I only have to do one decent watering a week with this stuff to maintain a green lawn

@craighoffman6876 2 года назад

Nice video! I use a subterranean prong tool for my lawn's hot spots. It helps break up dry hard soil, and forces water into the roots. Here in Colorado, dried poultry waste (DPW) is really helpful as it won't burn the lawn and helps reduce the need to water. Will have to check out the Hydretain.

@bryankosidowski6370 3 года назад

I just applied this last week! We had some hot stretches in the last couple of days. So far, looks to be holding its own!!

@TheLawngineer 3 года назад

Great video Brian! I put this down a few weeks ago and it’s been great! I haven’t even setup my DIY sprinkler system yet this season. May not need to set it up! Good stuff!

@mrob75 2 месяца назад

very informative…I live in the desert southwest w/ 100+ temps pretty much no rain June / July / August…My grass is Bermuda…We have water restrictions due to lack of water, so we are allowed to water every other day but never on Mondays….Mondays are reserved for parks / medians…I will be trying “Hydretain”. However, for whatever reason, this product is not available for mailing from Amazon…One must do a “pick up” at an Amazon center. P.S. I like your totally chilled out look!

@TurfMechanic 2 месяца назад

great comment, thanks a bunch. As for your area you might want to consider switching out some of your lawn spaces from Bermudagrass to Buffalograss, it's just as heat tolerant but it requires probably half the water that Bermuda needs. I've got some vids on the channel about buffalograss, just search RU-vid for "turf mechanic buffalo grass" and you'll get a lot of them listed. I'm about to apply Hydretain to my lawns this coming week, it's a great tool. If you do apply it to your lawn make sure to water it in well. If it isn't watered in well I've noticed it just doesn't work as good.

@lysawy82 3 года назад

Dozen of 90 degree days here and so far so good TTTF + Little kbg. Had applied hydratain and well fed lawn , only couple of deep waterings .Lets hope this holds up.

@JonP_4-31inf 2 года назад

Hydretain worked for about two weeks for me. I'm on pure sand in MN and I think it just leached down and away. I also like to water heavy once a week as I have found that allows the grass to stress just enough to grow more roots. One heavy water a week I believe is the best thing besides fert I have found for my yard.

@vashon100 2 года назад

How much water do you put down once a week? 1" or 2" (measured by tuna can)?

@STONE69_ 2 года назад

Imagine wasting water on a fken Lawn, but you're right once a week about 3 inches is good enough, also a good rain is does also count. I don't water at all, its either it rains or I let it go dormant. My roots are very deep because of this. In early fall and Spring, I care of any dead spots.

@markg6860 3 года назад

I'm in Texas and I have St Augustine grass. I mow using the highest setting on my mower (about 4"), TWICE per week. Tall grass shades the roots. I also use fresh (human) pee in a hose end sprayer, which contains nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. The Jerry Baker homemade "lawn tonics" are also beneficial and occasional applications of bubble bath or baby shampoo (which contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) act as a surfactant.

@Smllc22318 2 года назад

That’s weird bro. No way around it.

@coryCuc 2 года назад

@@Smllc22318 What's weird about it? It's pee dude. It's like 95% water.

@chiefmissile Год назад

Dawn dish soap has the same effect

@Moondoggy1941 2 года назад

I am preparing a area in the backyard for a new lawn, I have rototilled its I can smooth it out, then dug it out with a pitch fork, so no weeds, I have been watering it for a month or two now. One thing I noticed when you are watering dirt how fast the top layer dries out as soon as the sun hits it. I am in the SW zone 9a summers 95 to 115. The best time to water dirt is at night after the winds die down, the soil stays wet until the sun hits it 12 to 14 hours later, water in the AM it is good for 4 hours top. So seeing how will your sprinklers work on dirt teaches you if you have a lay out or not, proper even coverage. Another thing I noticed that different brand sprinklers put out more or less water than the other, so I recommend to use the same brand, don't mix them unless you have to. So my area should be ready for a fall seeding. My front yard I have added Hydratain so far I water every other day 10 minutes at a time. I had to cut it in half. I tried last year without Hydratian to water twice a week, it could not handle that, lots of dead grass.

@vashon100 2 года назад

Hydretain (as in retain)

@brendad.6332 2 года назад

I’m going to try this. Thanks for the info Brian.

@Juanandradethegardener 3 года назад

That summer heat is always crazy! But thanks again for the information! Smart irrigation month!

@carakellmeyer5037 3 года назад

Now I have all kinds of questions. First, what kind if soil do you have under that lawn? I have mostly clay. Clay holds water and keep roots wet foe longer than I wish when it comes to landscaping plants. I am zone 6. Last week we had 4.5 inches of rain. I have finally begun to water again because much of my landscape was too wet- TTTF included. I want to know more about your soil composition to know if this is a good product for me. Mayne you can cover that in another video?

@HappyPenguin75034 2 года назад

Hope your landscape isn’t in clay. Right now clay is dead dry and …. What are you doing ?

@carakellmeyer5037 2 года назад

I leave my tall fescue long and I barely ever water. If it cut it too short, the grass dies and crab grass grows in. There is also zoysia growing with the fescue. I am in a transition zone, and I can't find a way to rid my lawn of zoysia. I live with it. After weeks of 90+ degrees, my lawn is dormant. I will need to fix several spots in the fall. I would still like a video on your soil where you live. I bet it's very different than mine.

@Tony-dx3eo 2 года назад

Thanks for your lawn wisdom Brian! 🙌🏻

@JACKnJESUS 2 года назад

Nice video. I do it a bit differently. I have room...so no one can complain...I don't cut my grass regularly at all. I let it grow...go to seed...complete its cycle. I get a great root to shoot ratio for hard times (your video subject) and the wildlife gets cover...well as much cover as 12 inches gets you. My neighbor lived down the block...kept his yard like a golf course...sure was pretty. I know he disdained my attitude towards my yard. But guess what... we had a drought...and he lost 80% of his acreage...just gone. He came over...looked at my grass...never watered artificially ( way too much area for that)...long and still lush...under the browned tips. He could not believe it. Grass kept constantly short is constantly under...stress. It can take it...but if an extreme weather pattern comes along...look out. Let your grass complete its growth cycle once in a while. You'll also get your weekends back.

@TurfMechanic 2 года назад

Seriously, I love this comment and your attitude- well played. I say to others to leave things long in the summer or if you don't (or can't) mow often - your story is why. This year my lawn is as long as its been in two years and I'm using half the water than I did last year or less. Leaving it tall is an excellent way to get through July and Aug- tha KS for this different perspective 👊

@JACKnJESUS 2 года назад

@@TurfMechanic Love your video's...and also your attitude. It's amazing how much wildlife will use a long grass yard as opposed to a short one. I had no idea Bahia was desirable to bees and wasps...but they get all over it. Short grass is a bit of a wildlife desert...you'll see some...because they stand right out...lol. Just what wildlife likes to do...stand out. My critters behavior changed as soon as I stopped cutting....basically everything improved. I can understand the meme of keeping yards neat...but that's sort of an artificial construct...and certainly promoted by the lawn care industry. I do the same methodology with snags and dead wood...everything stays where it falls...or is cut and piled where it fell...nutrients stay put...termites get to dine...everyone is happy.

@musakphil0305 2 года назад

Just put this down. Hope it works. I have been watering for 30 min. Every other day and I still have dry patches. 🤞

@larryseibold4287 2 года назад

do you know of anyone that has compared a product like the Hydrotain to a control, like a section (half) with and a section without treatment and watered and watched the change over several months to see what the difference is with minimum water for the treated section to be healthy? I would think that it would be noticeable pretty quickly if it is working, without doing any real damage to the half that is untreated.

@TurfMechanic 2 года назад

A few years back Allyn Hane showed a side by side of potted plants using Hydretain on one but not the other but I don't know how long that experiment lasted. Side by side in the lawn would be interesting for sure and I'd love to see that too. So much so ill put that idea on my list of case studies to do eventually hopfully next year because I'd love to see the difference and show results to viewers. Conceptually I want the product to be a no-brainer to work because of the droughts we face out here on the west coast. Green lawns can be very good for the environment if managed well but if we can keep them healthy with less water inputs then thats even better...I just wish I knew the science and ingredients of Hydretain to learn more about how it's supposed to work.

@greggenna1975 2 года назад

I kind of have. I put Hydretain OC on my lawn this year. I got 1- 40lb bag which covers about 13-15k sq ft. I ran out during application in one corner of my lawn that gets sun pretty much all day until 3pm (I have about 15k). Comparing the 2 sections adjacent to each other (the part that got an app and one that didn’t) is starkly different. The section that did not get it is going dormant while right next to it seems to be just fine. We have not had rain for a week in my area (and none forecasted for the next 7 days) and will probably need to water everything pretty soon, but based on my experience, Hydretain really works extend that “non-rain, I really need to water” timeline.

@vashon100 2 года назад

Hydretain (as in retain)

@ricorodriguez3579 2 года назад

8:15, I have the same "pool". hehe

@geniferteal4178 2 месяца назад

What's better a 1/2 an hour every day or an hour every other day? I know a ton of variables, but just in general? My main concern is, if it rains one day just enough to trip the sensor it effectively skips a cycle and then it could go four days with very little water as opposed to just skipping one day of half an hour

@raymondmcdonald7085 3 года назад

Hey Brian, Raymond here in Rogue River. Thank you for bringing it to my attention that there is a way to s t r e t c h my water out. My poor well is crying! I have even devised a way to water from the pool and still can't keep up with my tttf I planted last November. Will the tttf retain water better when it matures! Thanks, stay cool over there!

@allensadicario5196 2 года назад

Thanks again brother always great info

@darrengillesdarrengilles8336 3 месяца назад

What is missing from this information that would tie everything together would be the amount of water you apply per watering, per zone. I have five zones and run my water 7 minutes per zone at roughly 5 am twice a week. I see your sprinklers are like an old man urinating mine are a different type which produce more of a waterskiers roostertail. That really matters if I am watching your video because you may run your sprinklers 30 min per zone because so little water is coming out but who knows how long you water for. Dethatching yearly will help with keeping rot and disease out of your lawn and a nice matting of peat moss afterwards provides some health benefits to your lawn and provides natural water retention in the soil. With regards to Hydratain I pour it into an inline hose applicator which supplies my sprinkler system which allows me to control the mix ratio so I can stay in bed while the Hydratain is being applied.

@tommiehl677 2 года назад

How often should a lawn be watered if it is on sandy soil? Sand doesn’t hold water very well.

@arkrainflood 2 года назад

QUESTION: why are there brown grass blades interspersed with the green blades?? from a distance, the lawn looks nice and green, but up close, about 10% of the blades are the typically thin brown blades lying horizontally. note, i use an electric dethatcher every year in the fall and do remove a lot of dead grass.

@888rocketman 2 года назад

Brian, I am in Canada, where can we find these products up here?

@rudy5454 2 года назад

Can you use miracle grow plant food on your lawn and spray it by chance? Just curious

@380stroker 3 месяца назад

Yes you can, but they do sell lawn food specifically for grass which has 36 percent nitrogen. The normal plant food only has 24 percent nitrogen, 8 percent phosphorus and 16 percent potassium.

@jasonlang7793 2 года назад

I don't know how you do it. I have kbg and watering my grass once a week even at 4 am at an inch and a half with hydretain is not enough. I start to get dry spots after two days. Need to water 2 to 3 times a week in July.

@TurfMechanic 2 года назад

If you have trouble spots do a small flood irrigation session on just those spots on occasion. I have a few trouble spots, right next to my patio as the roots are shallow there because of a tapered patio concrete lip under the grass and in front of the garden in the middle of that area under the tree. For full lawn help I also apply biochar, don't apply fungicides (so the michorizae under ground is unharmed throughout the year) and I apply cytokinins for root depth. Last December I even added extra michorizae to the lawn for a more substantial underground system of root helpers. :) I also make sure to apply alfalfa meal as one of my fertilization apps at least once each year as that contains triacontinol, another rooting stimulant. Hydretain is just one tool in the shed. Hope to hear more from you in the comments Jason; I do things a bit different than a lot of people on youtube. :D

@azdave1422 3 года назад

I’m in the southwest and water Bermuda grass every day starting at 4am. My cool summer mornings are in the 90’s and the 110’s + all day long. Hopefully early watering allows time for grass hydration before it evaporates from heat and very low desert humidity. At least thats my reasoning. There is not much as far as soil organics and I doubt there is much water retention or deep root penetration. I have short 10 minute zone intervals, once per morning, longer seems to run off. When I do skip a day, I can tell the difference. Just too dang hot.

@Moondoggy1941 2 года назад

How about two five minute intervals early in the morning. My temps during summer 95 to 115.

@azdave1422 2 года назад

@@Moondoggy1941 That may work as it may give the lawn more time for water to seep down. I limit time based on when run off begins. Watch a watering cycle to see how long you can water. I still believe the very early watering helps, maybe 3am as the sun rises so early in the summer. Our temperatures are conducive for very rapid evaporation once the sunshine hits.

@Moondoggy1941 2 года назад

@@azdave1422 Yes early as possible, once I get my timer set up I will try for 1 hour before sunrise, once July 4 hits her we are off to the races with the heat.

@edgargiles3246 2 года назад

Hello sir! I live in Texas it’s been really hot so I have a question if I use this product in this days can I use later on the stress blend fertilizer? Or I use firts the fertilizer and then I use hydretain? Thanks My lawn looks really bad right now so I need help.

@arielrodriguez6980 2 года назад

You mentioned you water your 3 zones 1 zone each night right before sunrise. Why not do all 3 zones at the same x amount of times during the week even if its once a week?

@shune84 2 года назад

he only has 1 timer sprinkler? or 1 water outlet?

@dank_fx 3 года назад

but how long do you water when you water? I hear longer is better so the water gets deeper, I cant seem to get that amount set right. I did order this stuff.. thanks I'm in a very hot and drought zone

@TurfMechanic 3 года назад

I water each zone of mine long enough to put down 1-inch of water in a single session. Each of my zones take a different amount of time. Within those zones a have a couple of spots that dry out faster so I spot water those a bit extra the same day I run the irrigation zones. I try my very best to not overwater for conservation and for disease reasons.

@MR1977. 2 года назад

It’s probably sea kelp and humic acid. If I had to guess

@WesterDrive Год назад

Brian, I clicked on the second link (for people with large lawns) and got a 404 error. It looks like the link needs to be updated.

@killemwithurkindness208 2 года назад

Which lawn grass can survive in hilly areas where the atmosphere is so cold

@jimowens2008 4 месяца назад

Baby shampoo woorks just as good and far cheaper

@mistamfmike8195 2 года назад

I live in southern california, over 100°F everyday, around 20% humidity average, I have a tall fescue lawn, and im using tons of water at dawn and it's still drying out & getting dead spots I don't know what to do🤨

@steveupton7996 Год назад

North florida with st augustine and zoysia on sandy soil when temperatures get to 105 I'm not aware of a process to keep it wet unless I water am and pm :/

@droberts3232 2 месяца назад

Do you have issues with fungus? I'm on the S. Texas coast on pure sand. I nearly killed my lawn last year, watering 2x per day.

@steveupton7996 2 месяца назад

I personally dont, but I would only imagine that you have what I would call mud sand and we have sugar sand . I liken it to growing grass in hydroponics . Constant flow of nutrients 😆

@tkaiser2086 Год назад

What do you recommend for grass under maple tree? No matter what I do the grass thins out and looks bad. It’s in a full shaded area . Hate seeing dirt under trees .

@cwilks5592 Год назад

Get a grass engineered for shade areas.

@davidgonzales-ec8bo 2 года назад

I'm already sold...

@TurfMechanic 2 года назад

:D Have a great summer David! It's basically here...just not here in the PNW.

@Ghost-ch6ik 2 года назад

What about watering at night?

@Folkintherye Год назад

Our sun lol

@catrice7126 2 года назад

How long do you water your zones

@Ke-qv3md 2 года назад

Sounds interesting. I have 6 zones though. How long do you water each zone? Or did I miss it in the video

@TurfMechanic 2 года назад

I water each zone to one inch of water, for me each zone requires a different amount of time to get to that volume so you need to calculate that for yourself because everyone will have a different duration and every zone will have a different duration. I aim for watering as infrequently as possible, once per week but as temps approach 100 I usually have to move to once every 5 days or so.

@380stroker 3 месяца назад

Just ask yourself, what do farmers do to keep their crops nice and green? Well for one their soil isn't compact.

@nonsense2901 3 года назад

How many hours does your watering last? How many liters are poured out per square meter? Thanks! Sorry for the translation. Greetings from Russia!

@TurfMechanic 3 года назад

Each of my irrigation zones run for different lengths of time but I run each zone once a week delivering one inch of water all at once. This is enough water to get deep into the soil and satisfy the Turf without going overboard. I don't over fertilize either so my grass doesn't grow unnecessarily fast which also helps minimize the need for extra water.

@nonsense2901 3 года назад

@@TurfMechanic Thank you very much!

@isabels2015 Год назад

Can you use this on new layed sod 1 week old?

@TurfMechanic Год назад

I would do it for sure

@georgemeissler5940 2 года назад

Im up in Pennsylvania with 6 zones on my system. How long do you run each zone? I an doing 15 minutes each zone starting at 0600 and what you say makes sense.maybe I should so 1 hour each day with 1 zone. What you think about this

@TurfMechanic 2 года назад

Check how much water comes out per zone per hour, I do different times per zone but enough each zone to put down an inch roughly each time I irrigate. And I only irrigate each zone once a week or less these days. One of my zones takes almost four hours to get one inch of water down, another zone takes half that to get the same amount of water on the lawn.

@ronaldmarconetto 3 года назад

Would it be ok to apply n-ext d-thatch day after applying hydretain?

@TurfMechanic 3 года назад

That's fine, probably better the other way around though because hydretain needs to be watered in immediately and watering in product on back to back days isn't best...but otherwise, yeah, that should be fine.

@jingles5382 2 года назад

WHERE DO U BUY IT TY

@catrice7126 2 года назад

Hope you did not experience the flood

@CCCC-tq8yo Год назад

But what's in it

@jaybones6351 2 года назад

Short and sweet with a 12 minute video. Yikes

@HWPO-Naz 2 года назад

You Definitely don’t leave in California, you missed a day and the next day is already dead

@TurfMechanic 2 года назад

Sounds like the wrong grass type 😂 ...also, im moving to California late this year so I'm looking forward to the challenges that come with that.

@HWPO-Naz 2 года назад

@@TurfMechanic I’m struggling big time to be honest and with this water restriction makes it even harder. My front yard I manage to keep it decent but the backyard is just a mess. I put new grass this year for the 3rd time and the dog pee plus the combination of no be able to add water everyday doesn’t help at all. I’m definitely desperate to have a nice backyard for my 3 kids

@TurfMechanic 2 года назад

@@HWPO-Naz when I relocate I'll be taking extreme steps to prepare lawn soil for deep rooted grass. I did a test run earlier this month preparing the soil 15" deep and when I get to Cali I'll be aiming for 18-24" in depth everywhere I grow grass. It's overkill for places less extreme but for dry heat 100+ for half the year with water restrictions it's the most reliable way. My video earlier this month on seed bed prep goes into it but I'm going to do things even more elaborate late this year or early next. For you you might want to invest in shade cloth to help protect seedlings or straw blankets. Many other tricks to try including working on small lawn sections at a time. I do this a lot, I baby tiny sections and watch my lawn grow bigger every season as older sections mature.

@HWPO-Naz 2 года назад

@@TurfMechanic thanks for the tip