Novice lawn enquiry

[chrism]

I had our lawn laid on 17 April, unaware of the current drought. Both lawns approx 6x4m.

After initially watering them for weeks as advised by the contractor, I pretty much left it to it’s own devices apart from occasional watering.

Last week, I watered it two evenings running with a sprinkler that covers each of the two lawns in one go, for 50 minutes each. It looked much better afterwards. One other clue for you: when digging up patches to plant roses in the shadier lawn, it was a big struggle to do so, as the lawn’s roots were well and truly established.

My question is about watering in the current conditions, as I don’t want to waste water. Thames Water don’t have a hosepipe ban, but the way things are going... I’m a worrier by nature and if the lawn was established, I’d be ok with it going brown knowing it would recover in autumn.

Would I be ok to let it go brown per above or should I water? If the latter, what would be your guidance re how many times per week and for how long, given the sizes?

Photos: the sunny lawn threw up almost no cuttings when mown this morning, and the shady lawn threw up much more although ironically looking much browner in the photo than in reality.

Many thanks in advance.

[SueA]

I'm no lawn expert chrism & I have a lawn which is more clover/daisies/moss than grass - that's the way I like it, but I wouldn't mow your lawn in this hot weather. I haven't mowed ours for a couple of weeks & it hasn't grown much & is not looking too brown & I haven't watered it at all. My next door neighbour laid a new lawn a couple of months ago & has only mowed it once since & it's only got a few faint slightly brown patches along it & looks quite good, he has put a lawn sprinkler on it in the evening a few times a week but only for about 10 minutes at a time & it seems to be doing the trick. I'd carry on watering yours every so often until there is a hosepipe ban & resist the urge to mow it until the weather cools down a bit.
Just nipped upstairs to take a couple of photos to show you what the grass around here looks like:-
On the left is mine, not watered, not mown for a few weeks but well established & full of clover etc., not much brown showing yet, on the right is the neighbour's new lawn, watered regularly for short spells (that's his sprinkler in the middle of it), not mown for a few weeks - had a bouncy castle on it at weekend & only showing a few brown patches, at the back is the field the council mow once a week, dry as a bone & crispy gold colour.

as I was up there a lady on a bike & horserider appeared & started schooling a horse on the field:-




I would say you just have to adapt to the weather & you can't do everything to the book when we have such changeable weather now.

[sweetpea]

Sometime back in the '70s we had a drought with the usual hosepipe ban. This was in Surrey on outskirts of London.
Anyway my lawn turned brown but when the rains came it quickly recovered.
Even if you did end up with a few bare patches you can always scatter a few more seeds.
my usual mantra is don't water anything other than container and g'house plants. Works for me.

[chrism]

Thanks, both and thanks SueA for the photos as a comparison.