Water Conservation

• Watering during the middle of the day wastes water through evaporation due to hot afternoon sun. Evening watering allows gardeners to save water and avoid excess evaporation. Evening waterings save money on water bills and help the environment.
  
  

Other Benefits

• Many gardeners choose to water plants in the evening because they can closely monitor sprinkler systems and turn them off if the yard starts to become too saturated. In some climates, morning and evening also have less wind, which means less evaporation and less unwanted spray from sprinklers in the wind.
  
  

Considerations

• Gardeners who water plants during the evening should water in the early evening so that plant foliage has enough time to dry off and avoid fungal problems from overnight moisture. Alternatively, gardeners can use a drip irrigation system or water plants carefully at their bases rather than spraying their foliage, as the University of Illinois Extension suggests.