Living in Sacramento and need some lawn watering tips? We have a complete guide on watering your lawn below. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out and we will be more than happy to help you out.

How Long Should You Water Your Lawn In Sacramento

We recommend giving your lawn around 1-1.5 inches of water per week. A typical in-ground sprinkler system produces 1 inch of water per hour. This means you need to water your lawn, on average, 1.5 hours a week. Refer to the table below to see how long you need to water per week.

How Often Should You Water Your Lawn In Sacramento? 

If you just installed new grass, water your lawn every single day for about 30 days so that it has enough time to develop a decent root system. After this, you can resume a normal watering schedule.

Warm Season Grasses

These grass types are varieties that have active growth starting in the late spring and slowing down around mid-fall. If you have a warm-season grass type, you want to water your lawn more in the springtime and less in the fall.

Cool Season Grasses

These grass types are varieties that have active growth starting in the mid-fall and slowing down starting in early springtime. If you have a cool-season lawn, you want to water your lawn more in the fall time and less in the spring.

Clay Soil

Chances are that you have clay soil in Sacramento. This soil tends to hold water longer than sandy soil and because of this, requires less watering.

Sandy Soil

If you have sandy soil in Sacramento, you will probably need to water your lawn more often because this type of soil doesn’t hold water very well.

I have provided a table below to show just how often you should water your lawn. Note, that this is just a table for reference. For best results, make sure to check and see if the soil is somewhat damp during the day and if the blades of grass are soft and squishy or firm to the touch. This will tell you if you need more water, or if you’re overwatering. You can adjust the time to water your lawn from there.

Sacramento Lawn Watering Table

Type Of GrassType Of SoilSpring/SummerFall/Winter
Warm-Season GrassClay Soil50 minutes per week40 minutes per week
Sandy Soil60 minutes per week50 minutes per week
Cool-Season GrassClay Soil40 minutes per week50 minutes per week
Sandy Soil50 minutes per week60 minutes per week

This is a reference table. If it says 60 minutes, then all you need to do is water your lawn two times a week for 30 minutes at 8 am. Make sure to see if your soil is damp or dry and adjust the time from there. If the blades of grass are squishy and soft, this is a sign of overwatering. Lower the amount of water and they should become firm to the touch.

What is the best time of day to water your lawn in Sacramento?

The best time to water your lawn in Sacramento is in the morning before 10 am. This will allow the blades of grass to dry up while letting the water soak deeper into the soil.

How do I keep my grass green in Sacramento?

You can keep your grass green in Sacramento by giving it enough water and cutting it higher to allow for deeper roots.

Watering Days In Sacramento County

Here are the watering days in Sacramento and the surrounding regions. This includes Rancho Cordova, Citrus Height, Rio Linda, Natomas, North Highlands, and Carmicheal.

CitySpring/SummerFall/Winter
Sacramento County Watering DaysEven-numbered addresses can water on Wednesdays and Sundays. Odd-numbered addresses can water on Tuesdays and Saturdays.Watering is allowed one day per week, on Saturday or Sunday, at any time of day.

Based on the City Of Sacramento watering guide.

Sacramento Watering Lawn Precautions

Just like underwatering can cause problems with your lawn, over-watering is not a good idea either. Here are a few things to look out for:

Can you water the grass too much?

Yes, you can water the grass way too much. Your lawn won’t get the oxygen it needs which leads to more problems down the line. To know if you are overwatering the lawn, check for dry patched of grass, an abundance of weeds like crabgrass, or excessive runoff after you watered the grass.

Can grass turn brown from overwatering?

Yes, grass can turn brown from overwatering. The lawn doesn’t get the correct amount of oxygen and slowly starts to fade away leaving patches of dead brown grass.

What does an overwatered lawn look like?

An overwatered lawn looks patchy with dry spots, the blades of grass are squishy and soft, and there is general yellowing to the lawn.

Sacramento County Watering FAQS

Got questions about watering in Sacramento? Here are a few common questions that people ask us:

Should I water my grass every day?

You should not water your grass every day. I promise you, watering your grass a couple of times a week is usually more than enough to have great-looking grass. Follow the guidance above and you should not have any problems.

Is it OK to water grass at night?

Watering your lawn at night is probably one of the worst things you can do to it. You want to make sure that your blades of grass have enough time to dry out before night comes because they have higher chances of developing various diseases if they are wet.

Should I water my lawn after it rains?

It doesn’t matter if it rains or not, your lawn requires at least 1-1.5 inches of water every week to remain healthy and green. You can check how many inches of water it rained by simply placing a bowl on the grass. After the rain, you can check if there are more than 1.5 inches and then see if you need to water more or not.

If you have sandy soil, you might find that the soil in your lawn dries up very quickly which will need some more water during the week.

Sacramento Lawn Care Services

Need someone to take care of your lawn as much as they care of taking care of this Earth? Look no further than Lawn Care Up because we have all-electric lawn care equipment that works well and an extremely quiet so they don’t disturb you. If you would like us to take care of your lawn, simply call or text and we will get back to you as soon as we can.