A neighbor yelled at me for watering my lawn at noon... totally changed my schedule

I live in Phoenix and last August I was out there with the hose around 1pm because my grass was looking crispy. This older lady named Rosa from three houses down comes stomping across the street and tells me I'm basically wasting water and killing my plants. She said something like 'you're fighting a losing battle against the sun, honey.' She explained morning or evening watering saves like 30% of the water because it doesn't just evaporate. I felt dumb but now I set a timer for 6am and my water bill dropped $15 last month. Has anyone else had a stranger call them out on something obvious like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

john65024d ago

You're saying a 30% savings from just watering earlier? I used to water at noon in Austin and my grass would scorch no matter what time I did it because the heat was just brutal. Honestly $15 less on a water bill sounds more like you were overwatering before and not the timing. Plus plants actually need that midday soak sometimes for deep root growth - I've had better luck with soaker hoses running at high noon when the ground is baked dry. Not saying Rosa was totally wrong but I think people get too strict about watering schedules without looking at the actual soil conditions.

carr.elliot23d ago

Hell yeah, "ground is baked dry" is exactly it. I'm in Phoenix and tried switching to morning watering like everyone swears by. Total joke. My bermuda grass would still look fried by 2pm. Switched to a deep soak with soaker hoses around 1pm when the sun is highest. Water actually soaks in instead of just evaporating off the hot surface. My water bill dropped like 20 bucks that first month. People get way too hung up on the clock. Soil don't care what time it is.

jana_scott22d agoMost Upvoted

Are you really overthinking grass watering this much @carr.elliot?