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Message: [QUOTE="temery, post: 2772019, member: 1"] Pictures in a few days, but for now, I have to say my lawn is 80% there. Dethatching and overseesing in the fall made a huge difference. I have dropped preemergent crabgrass killer per manufacturers recommendations, along with fertilizer, weed killer, etc, and plan to follow though until November. Here's my problem: I have noticed a bit of crabgrass popping up recently, mostly along the end of my driveway, and bordering the road. In addition, I have several bare spots on my lawn, mostly due to my cat stalking, digging up, and befriending moles. I can reseed the bare spots, but historically, a bit of crabgrass now = a ton of crabgrass later. My question now is about watering. I put in an irrigation system, and can set watering on any schedule needed. I had been doing 20 minutes once a week per zone, and my lawn looks really good. I went a little bit old school, and knocked on the door of the owner of the best lawn in town. After he asked his daughter what grades I gave her in science, he was very helpful. Bottom line: He said 20 minutes is barely a tease, without weekly rain. He said his irrigation system is set 45 minutes twice a week for heads watering 180 degrees or less, and one hour twice a week for anything greater than 180 degrees. My next question was, "what's your water bill?" $2500/year. I currently pay $50, twice a year (the town minimum), and use rain barrels to recover water from my roof. In the Spring a neighbor lets me overflow pump water from his 1/2 pond after it rains. Ok, I'm done babbling: How often should I water, keeping in mind my goal is to help the wanted grass outcompete the crabgrass? The $50 I currently spend every six months won't get the job done, but $2,500 isn't going to happen. I need a Goldilocks answer. [/QUOTE]

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