How to Save Water and Enjoy a Lush, Green Lawn

Creating a beautiful, green lawn doesn’t have to mean using a lot of water. With a few simple habits and the right products, you can significantly cut back on water use while still keeping your yard vibrant and healthy. Here’s how to find that sweet spot between saving water and boosting curb appeal.

1. Mow Higher for Healthier, More Efficient Grass

One of the easiest and most effective ways to save water is to simply raise your mower blade. Letting your grass grow to 3 to 4 inches (or a bit taller) can make a noticeable difference in how healthy and green your lawn looks.

Longer grass blades help your lawn hold onto moisture by shading the soil and keeping it cooler. That extra shade makes a big difference on hot, dry days. Taller grass also encourages deeper, stronger roots that can reach water more easily. Altogether, you end up with a healthier lawn that needs less frequent watering and handles drought much better.

This simple adjustment can save up to 25% of water usage, translating to hundreds (even over 1,000) gallons saved each month.

Best Mowing Practices

Follow the 1/3 rule and try not to remove more than one-third of the blade length at a time. Mulch your clippings and leave them on the lawn to help lock in moisture and return nutrients to the soil. Keep your mower blades sharp so they make clean cuts, which keeps your grass less stressed and less thirsty. And as the weather heats up, raise your mowing height so your lawn can handle those hot summer months more comfortably.

2. Improve Soil with a Surfactant

Watering efficiency isn’t just about how much you water — it’s about how well your soil absorbs it.

Using a soil surfactant like Aqua-Drive can do a lot of heavy lifting for your lawn. It helps:

• Eliminate dry patches
• Soil retain more moisture
• Improve water distribution across your lawn
• Increase drought resistance

For best results, apply before your first fertilization and reapply every 60 days during the growing season.

3. Build Better Soil with Humate

Healthy soil is the foundation for saving water. Soil treatments like IFA Bountiful Earth Humate help enrich your soil and improve its ability to retain moisture, so your lawn stays greener with less watering.

Benefits include:

• Deeper, denser root systems: Grass can store and access more water when it needs it. 
• Improved soil fertility: Healthier turf requires less irrigation overall.
• Better soil balance: Humate helps optimize pH in a healthy range, which supports stronger growth, more vigorous growth.

When your soil is working with you instead of against you, your lawn naturally becomes more water-efficient. We recommend applying IFA Bountiful Earth Humate to your lawn at least twice per year. 

4. Water Deeply — Not Daily

Frequent, light watering is one of the most common lawn care mistakes. Instead, aim for deep, infrequent watering to build stronger, more resilient roots.

A Smarter Lawn Watering Strategy

Here’s a simple watering schedule to follow:

1. Aim to water 1–2 times per week (bumping up to 3 times during extreme heat).
2. Try to run your sprinklers in the early morning, anytime between about 2 a.m. and 9 a.m.
3. Each time you water, apply roughly 0.5 to 1 inch, for a total of 1–1.5 inches per week.

Why Watering Deeply Works

Deep, consistent watering encourages your lawn’s roots to grow deeper and stronger. It also cuts down on evaporation and runoff, so more of the water you apply actually reaches the root zone. Over time, this approach improves the overall health of your turf and helps reduce the risk of lawn diseases. 

Pro Lawn Watering Tips

Use a simple tuna can or water gauge cup to measure how much water your lawn is actually getting. Keep an eye out for signs that your grass needs a drink. These signs include:

• Footprints that linger after walking
• Grass blades turning a bluish‑gray color
• The top 2 inches of soil feeling dry

When you do water, aim to soak the soil to a depth of about 6 inches so the roots grow deep and strong.

5. Fertilize Wisely

A well-fed lawn is a more efficient lawn. The right fertilization routine supports healthy growth and helps reduce the need for excess watering.

Key Lawn Fertilizer Tips 

Follow the spreader settings on the bag closely. Applying too much fertilizer can stress your lawn, especially in the summer heat. Aim to fertilize about every 6 weeks during the growing season to keep growth steady and healthy.

In mid‑ to late summer, you can also add an iron treatment, such as Live Earth Iron-10, IFA Quick Green Liquid Iron, or Ironite, to give your lawn an extra boost of deep green color. These iron treatments help your lawn hold onto that rich green color right up until it’s time for your fall and winter fertilizer application (usually around September or October).

Bringing It All Together: A Greener Lawn with Less Water

You don’t have to choose between saving water and enjoying a beautiful lawn. When you combine better mowing habits, smarter watering, and a few soil‑boosting products, you can create a yard that’s both sustainable and stunning. Small changes really do add up and your lawn (and your water bill) will thank you.

Visit your hometown IFA Country Store and talk with one of our lawn experts for more growing tips and drought‑conscious advice.

Information for this article was provided by Aaron Jaussi, (Former) Branch Manager, Provo IFA Country Store, and current IFA Lawn & Garden Buyer.