Lawn care in Sacramento depends on your grass and your water provider. Tall fescue, the most common lawn grass in California, is fed and overseeded mainly in fall; warm-season Bermuda grows in summer and goes dormant in winter. Water deeply on your allowed days, mow on the high side in summer, and check your provider's watering rules each season.
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Lawn care in Sacramento is mostly about getting a lawn through summer on limited water. Hot, dry months, assigned watering days and soils that either seal up or drain too fast make watering and mowing habits more important than any single product. A good lawn program here starts with knowing your grass type and your water provider's rules.
Know your grass
Most Sacramento-area lawns are one of two kinds:
- Tall fescue, a cool-season grass. UC's lawn guide calls it the most common lawn grass in California. It stays green most of the year, tolerates some shade, and has good heat and drought tolerance for a cool-season grass, but it still needs regular summer water.
- Bermudagrass, a warm-season grass. It loves full sun and heat, uses water efficiently, and handles heavy wear, but it goes brown and dormant in winter and creeps into beds.
Many older lawns are a mix, often with annual bluegrass and other weeds filling thin spots. Feeding and mowing schedules differ by grass type, so identify yours first. UC IPM's online lawn guide has a simple identification key.
Seasonal care at a glance
- Spring: Tune the sprinkler system before the warm-season schedule begins, fix broken heads, and start regular mowing.
- Summer: Mow tall fescue on the high side so blades shade the soil, leave clippings on the lawn, and water deeply on your allowed days rather than in light daily sprinkles.
- Fall: The main window for fertilizing, aerating and overseeding tall fescue. Bermuda slows down as nights cool.
- Winter: Rain often covers watering needs. Many providers move to a one-day-a-week schedule or less.
Watering on schedule
In the City of Sacramento, sprinklers may run two days a week from March through October (Wednesday and Sunday for even addresses, Tuesday and Saturday for odd), before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m., and only one weekend day a week from November through February. Watering isn't allowed for 48 hours after one-eighth inch of rain, and runoff onto sidewalks isn't allowed at any time. Other providers, including Roseville, Elk Grove Water District and Citrus Heights Water District, set their own rules, so check yours. Short repeat cycles on the same day help clay soil absorb water instead of shedding it.
Weeds and pests
Crabgrass, spurge, dallisgrass and Bermuda creeping into fescue are common complaints. A thick, well-watered, properly mowed lawn is the best weed control. If a program includes herbicides or insecticides, California requires businesses that apply pesticides for hire to be licensed by the Department of Pesticide Regulation, either as a pest control business or as a maintenance gardener pest control business. Ask which license a company holds.
Licensing for lawn work
Regular mowing and maintenance generally doesn't require a CSLB contractor license. Installing irrigation, sod or other construction-related work of $1,000 or more does.
Questions to ask a lawn care company
- Which grass do I have, and how will you adjust care for it?
- Will you check and adjust my sprinkler timer for the watering schedule?
- Are you licensed by DPR to apply weed or insect control?
- Can you provide a certificate of insurance?
Not sure the lawn is worth keeping? Read choosing grass for a Sacramento lawn, or request a lawn care company.
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Frequently asked questions
What days can I water my lawn in Sacramento?
In the City of Sacramento, from March 1 to October 31, even-numbered addresses may use sprinklers on Wednesday and Sunday and odd-numbered addresses on Tuesday and Saturday, before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m. From November 1 to February 28, sprinklers may run one day a week on Saturday or Sunday. Other water providers set their own schedules.
Does a lawn care company need a license to spray weeds?
In California, businesses that apply pesticides for hire, including herbicides, must be licensed by the Department of Pesticide Regulation, either as a pest control business or a maintenance gardener pest control business. Ask which license the company holds.
Why does my lawn turn brown in summer even with watering?
Common causes are uneven sprinkler coverage, water running off compacted clay instead of soaking in, mowing too short, or a warm-season grass going through stress. A sprinkler checkup and cycle-and-soak watering often fix it. Bermuda that browns in winter is normal dormancy.
Sources and further reading
- Contractors State License Board: Choosing the Right Landscaper (Fast Facts)
- Contractors State License Board: AB 2622 minor work exemption increase
- City of Sacramento: Watering schedule
- City of Sacramento: Grass conversion rebate
- City of Sacramento: Urban forestry tree permits and ordinances
- Sacramento County Water Agency: Cash for Grass
- City of Roseville: Watering schedule
- City of Roseville: Cross-connection and backflow prevention
- City of Roseville: Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance
- Elk Grove Water District: Water restrictions
- Citrus Heights Water District: Water efficiency
- Be Water Smart (Sacramento-region water efficiency)
- California Department of Water Resources: Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance
- UC IPM: The UC Guide to Healthy Lawns, turf species
- California Department of Pesticide Regulation: Licensing
- California Invasive Plant Council: Plant inventory
- CAL FIRE Ready for Wildfire: Defensible space
- USA North 811
- EPA WaterSense