With all this wonderful rain (don't throw those mud balls at me!), it's

starting to look like Ireland around here. Well, maybe not Ireland, but

plenty green. Speaking of Ireland, they sure do grow a lot of grass out

there. Speaking of grass, why do we grow so much of it around here?

OK, I'm setting myself up as the target for the pro-turf folks. Mind

you, I'm not anti-turf; in fact, I have a lawn and am expanding it

(better to have buffalo grass than dirt and weeds). I do take

exception, though, with much of what I see in my professional life as a

horticulture agent.

For example, this summer, in part due to the unusually heavy rains,

fungal diseases in turf are up quite a bit. If you think about fungi,

they are a life form that typically needs a moist environment. That's

why mold grows on the wet clothes you left in the washing machine for

three days, but not the crumpled pile of dry clothes that came in off

the clothesline just before that last thunderstorm.

Same with grass. Every time our lab finds fungal diseases on the

samples I send in, the recommendations start with: water less

frequently, but more deeply.

And yet, even during these rains, I get samples from yards that are

watered twice a day, three times a week. Folks, get a grip on your

faucet and turn firmly to the right.

There is simply no reason that a lawn should need to be watered so

frequently. Now we get to the howls of protest. Some people will say

that if their lawns are not watered thusly, the grass dies and the

weeds invade. In some cases, this may well be true, due to a lack of

rooting depth. Often, turf is laid down as sod over poorly prepared

soil, and the roots may be effectively limited to a couple of inches.

In such a case frequent watering is the only way to keep the grass

alive, but it begs a couple of questions.

The first is, simply, should you try to grow turf in an area where

the soils are so inhospitable? No, you should not. The second is, if

you are going to anyway, shouldn't you take the time to do good soil

preparation? Yes, you should.

What about established lawns? Frankly, your best long-term bet would

be to take out the existing turf, loosen and amend the soil to a depth

of about 8 inches (assuming no tree or shrub roots are already growing

in that area), and re-plant or re-sod. Expensive now, but in the long

run, it will give you a lawn that's better performing, less troublesome

and easier to water.

Some of us are fortunate, based on geography, to have soils amenable

to deeper rooting. Lawns and other ornamental plantings will certainly

do better in such cases. Due to the deeper rooting, you shouldn't have

to water more than three times a week in the heat of summer with no

rain and a high-water turf.

But when it does rain, remember to cut back your watering, or the

turf is likely to become a haven for diseases.