watering

[Lou]

I have an automatic sprinkler but am wonder what is the normal amount of
time? I understand the cooler the weather the need for less water is normal. I usually turn it on 3 times a week and at the start of spring and at times during the winter months I would water each section 10 minutes.
The front of my house faces NW and that's where my shrubs and two trees are...one side is just grass...back has only one Red Oak in center of yard and other side a very small flower bed. My lot is a zero lot.

Is there a quide as to what to increase the time to as it gets hotter?

Thanks.

[Mr. Clean]

An added benefit of using organic methods for lawn/plant care I have noticed is the amount of water my grasses and plants (excluding container plants) DON"T need. Last year, I didn't water half a dozen times. If you do choose to supplement the water Mother Nature provides, you probably needn't water more than once every 7 to 10 days. Deep watering promotes deeper roots, which require less water. When you do water, try to add about 1" of water. If runoff occurs during your watering, stop. Let that soak in and then proceed until 1" has been applied. It is difficult to set a time for how long a sprinkler must run to reach your 1" goal as sprinkler outputs will vary. For your initial watering, you can set straight edged cans around various locations in your yard to get the idea of what 1" of water looks like. From then on you can go by feel.

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

The trees should survive without irrigation as long as the rain can soak in around them.

Grass should be weaned off as Mr Clean said. If you can get down to once a week or 10 days, you're on your way. Set your sprinkler system to manual so the water doesn't accidentally go off and ruin your hard work.

What you are trying to do is develop deep roots. Deep roots will get water from deeper and deeper depths in the soil. If you are lucky there is a depth where water seems to always be. When your roots reach that level, you may never need to water again.