Although established lawns tend to resist dry spells well, any prolonged droughts will slow growth down and turn the turf brown. Therefore, in order to maintain growth and colour, you must water the lawn thoroughly in very dry periods, either in the early morning or in the evening to minimise evaporation. You will be able to tell when the lawn needs to be watered when the grass does not spring back up after it has been walked on.

You may want to consider installing an underground pop-up sprinkler system to deal with areas of grass that need regular watering. These may be set to operate automatically. However, a sprinkler or hose pipe will be quite adequate for most lawns.

When watering the lawn, the soil should be moistened to a depth of at least 10-15 cm (4-6 in), otherwise plant roots will remain near the surface, making the lawn more vulnerable to drought. To make sure that the soil is sufficiently damp, dig a small hole to the required depth to check. You may find it useful to note down the time that it took to water the lawn to this level to guide you in the future. Alternatively, push an electric moisture meter into the soil to record the moisture level.