How Much Should You Water Your Lawn During an Oklahoma Drought?
If your lawn is turning brown, thinning out, or looking stressed during the Oklahoma summer, it may simply need more water.
Hot temperatures and extended periods without rain can quickly stress both Bermuda and fescue lawns in Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Bixby, and Jenks, Oklahoma.
The important thing to remember is that watering time isn't the same for every sprinkler system.
How Much Water Does Your Lawn Need?
As a general summer guideline:
Bermuda Grass: About 1 inch of water per week
Tall Fescue: May require up to 2 inches of water per week during hot summer weather.
Natural rainfall counts toward these totals, so you may need to adjust your sprinkler schedule when rain returns.
Don't Water by Minutes — Measure the Water
One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make is assuming that running their sprinklers for a certain number of minutes means their lawn received enough water.
Every irrigation system is different.
For example:
Homeowner #1: Their sprinkler system may deliver 1 inch of water in 30 minutes.
Homeowner #2: Their sprinkler system may need to run for 1 hour to deliver the same 1 inch of water.
Both homeowners received the same amount of water even though their sprinklers ran for completely different lengths of time.
That's why it's better to measure inches of water instead of relying only on sprinkler run time.
How to Measure Your Sprinkler Output
Place a rain gauge or several small, straight-sided containers throughout one sprinkler zone.
Run that zone and measure how much water collects.
Once you know how long your system takes to deliver the amount of water your lawn needs, you can adjust the run time for that zone.
For example, if your sprinkler delivers:
¼ inch in 15 minutes → approximately 1 inch in 60 minutes
But another sprinkler system with a higher output could reach that same 1-inch measurement much faster.
Different zones can even have different application rates, so checking multiple areas of the lawn gives you a better picture of how evenly your system is watering.
When Should You Water Your Lawn in Oklahoma?
Early morning is generally the best time to water.
Watering during the heat of the afternoon can increase water loss through evaporation, while regularly leaving the lawn wet overnight can increase the potential for turf disease.
If water begins running down the sidewalk or driveway before you've applied enough water, stop the irrigation cycle, allow the water to soak into the soil, and then resume watering.
Bermuda vs. Fescue During an Oklahoma Summer
Bermuda Grass
Bermuda is a warm-season grass that handles Oklahoma heat and drought better than fescue.
During summer, an established Bermuda lawn generally needs around 1 inch of total water per week, including rainfall.
Bermuda may temporarily turn brown or go dormant during severe drought and can recover when adequate moisture returns.
Tall Fescue
Fescue is a cool-season grass and can struggle much more during Oklahoma's summer heat.
During hot, dry summer conditions, tall fescue may require up to 2 inches of water per week to maintain its appearance.
Fescue lawns growing in full sun can require considerably more irrigation than Bermuda lawns.
Serving Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Bixby & Jenks
At Walter's Lawn Service, we help homeowners maintain healthier lawns throughout the Tulsa metro, including:
If your lawn is turning brown during the summer, don't automatically assume it needs fertilizer or another lawn treatment.
Check your watering first.
A simple rain gauge can help determine exactly how much water your sprinkler system is putting down.
Walter's Lawn Service
