Gwinnett County has furthered eased watering restrictions, this time on professionally installed landscaping.

County Administrator Jock Connell announced Thursday that he was easing restrictions that limited watering of newly landscaped areas to 10 of the first 30 days after installation and required signs explaining why the watering was allowed and who was doing it.

Last month, Connell decided to end the county's ban on hand-watering of lawns and plants, which state guidelines had authorized in February. That allowed residents to use a hose and nozzle to water their lawns and plants for up to 25 minutes a day, between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m on the now-familiar odd-even schedule.

Now, the county will fully follow all state guidelines, which allow professionally landscaped areas to be watered as long as desired between midnight and 10 a.m. on the odd-even schedule for up to 10 weeks, so long as the water user participates in the state's Outdoor Water Use Registration Program.

That program requires registrants to pay a $4.95 fee and go through a short course on good water use and landscaping practices.

Despite the slight easing of restrictions, the acting director of the county's Department of Water Resources, Lynn Smarr, said residents shouldn't assume the drought is over.

"The message is that we are still in a drought and that our customers and our users still need to be very conscious of their watering and be conservative," she said.

The Gwinnett County Commission empowered Connell to make day-to-day decisions about water use restrictions last month.

Residents can get more information about the state's Outdoor Water Use Regisration program at http://watersmart.urbanagcouncil.com, or by calling the Gwinnett County Cooperative Extension Service office at 678-377-4010.