How to Avoid Wasting Water With Your Sprinkler System

Tired of your lawn turning brown and ugly during the hot summer months? It can be frustrating since your lawn is critical to your home looking its very best. One solution is to install an irrigation system or as it is more commonly called, a sprinkler system. However, water is a valuable resource and there is no reason to use more than you need. Keeping a few tips and concepts in mind can help you maximize your water usage.

The first thing to do is inspect your sprinkler heads. Look for broken or cracked heads and replace them. Damaged sprinkler heads can leak when not in use or will spray water ineffectively and overwater certain portions of the yard while under watering others. When you find a broken part or head, take it with you to the home improvement store to make sure you get an exact match. Broken sprinkler heads can be minimized by not stepping on them or running lawn mower wheels over them. Once or twice generally won't hurt but repeated abuse will eventually cause the head to fail.

Next, adjust each sprinkler head's spray pattern. Typically, you can adjust the patter to spray in a quarter, half, three-quarter or full circle. The goal is not ensure that the spray patterns are not including sidewalks, streets or other hard surfaces where the water simply runs off and is wasted.

Once your heads have been adjusted, you need to figure out how much water you need for your lawn. This is easily done with a runoff test. Simply, turn on your sprinkler system, note the time and observe. After a period of time water will begin to pool in certain areas of your lawn. Note how much time has passed. This is the amount of time you need to water your lawn. Allowing the system to run longer than this period results in wasted water, as it is not able to enter the saturated ground and runs off your lawn and into the storm sewer. Set your timer to run your system indicated by the run-off test.

Finally, it is best not to water your lawn at mid-day. With the sun beating down much of the water will be wasted to evaporation. The best time to water is the morning when evaporation losses will be minimized.

Hopefully, these quick tips will keep your lawn looking vibrant green without the unnecessary loss of water.

For more information on home sprinkler and irrigation systems please visit www.advancedirrigationmn.com.

Article independently authored by Eric Parish. The content herein may or may not reflect the views and opinions of Advanced Irrigation of Minnesota.

Make Your Trees Happier With Mulch

You can improve the health of your trees with mulch. Mulch is an organic material applied to the ground around trees or plants. Common mulch materials are bark nuggets, wood chips, leaves, pine needles or even lawn clippings.

There are several advantages to mulching your trees. First, is that the mulch helps the soil retain water and helps eliminate the need to water as often (10 to 25% reduction in water evaporation). Second, the mulch helps prevent soil erosion around the tree. Third, it protects the roots from extreme hot and cold by providing an insulating layer. Fourth, it prevents weeds from growing. Finally, the mulch provides a buffer from lawn mowers which helps avoid physical damage to the trunk from collisions.

When mulching, you want the layer to be two to four inches deep after it has settled. Mulch will be "puffier" after you first apply it. As such, you will need to apply a few more inches at application to achieve the desired depth after settling. Different materials settle at different rates so you will need to experiment with your particular mulch choice. As a rough guide, you will need 35 cubic feet of material to cover a 100 square foot area to 6" deep.

Generally, the best time to apply mulch is in the late spring when the ground has warmed up. By applying too early in the year, you run the risk of keeping ground temperatures too low for too long which can inhibit root growth. That said, however, mulch can be applied at any time of the year.

Mulch should extend out four to six feet from the tree trunk. Also, it is advisable to pull the mulch back and inch or two from the trunk to help prevent bark decay. You might consider back filling this area with stone.

Black plastic is often used under mulch to inhibit weed growth but it is not advisable. Plastic prevents the exchange of water and nutrients thereby weakening the tree. A better alternative is landscaping fabric which is designed to be used under mulch and allow nutrient exchange while inhibiting weeds. Of course, if you have a very large mature tree the use of plastic under the mulch won't make much difference.

With a little bit of effort you can make your trees more healthy and strong while also improving the look of your home. Mulched trees provide a much more appealing look than the lawn growing right up to the trees. Give your yard that extra pizzazz and mulch your trees this weekend!

To learn more about mulching trees and flower beds visit www.advancedirrigationmn.com.

Article independently authored by Eric Parish. The content herein may or may not reflect the views and opinions of Advanced Irrigation of Minnesota.

Sprinklers and Fertilizer - Proper Irrigation Methods and Lawn Maintenance For a Beautiful Lawn

No matter what region of the country in which a home owner may live, the requirements of the lawn are the same. With summer temperatures just around the corner it is important to make sure the lawn is healthy enough to withstand longer stretches of heat and diminished watering. Although proper lawn mowing seems like a no-brainer, a surprisingly large number of home owners do not mow their lawn properly.

Hopefully, by the end of March, the spring round of fertilizing has already been applied to the lawn and flower beds. If fertilizer has not yet been administered in the northern states of the U.S., such as Minnesota, these home owners may still be able to sneak in the spring application. It is important to ensure the root system is sufficiently healthy enough to withstand the hotter summers that the U.S. has experienced in the past several years and will continue to sustain.

The heat is not necessarily the only factor affecting the durability of the lawn. It does, however, pose a significant challenge due to watering restrictions tightening throughout every locale. Along with fertilizing, proper watering times and duration are very important. Generally the best time to water a lawn is during the early morning hours. Mornings are usually when there are fewer winds to carry the water spray away from the grass.

There are two different times when it is normally not a good time to irrigate a lawn. Watering later in the afternoon time periods will usually violate some local ordinance or water restriction, not to mention wasting the water which is intended for the lawn. The water is wasted due to increased evaporation in the afternoon heat and sun and not having sufficient time to soak down into the root system. The other time it is almost always counter productive to water a lawn is in the evening or nighttime hours. The reason for this is because, while the heat of the day has passed, the cooler evening and overnight temperatures can contribute to fungus growth when extra moist conditions are present.

It is also very important, when watering the lawn, to water deeply for a sufficient length of time. Longer watering time periods allow the water to penetrate more deeply down into the soil and reach the roots. Conversely, shorter durations of watering will cause the lawn to form a shallower root system which will contribute to a greater susceptibility to disease and pests.

The other major concern for enabling the grass to withstand the hot summer months is to ensure that the height adjustment of the lawnmower is set to the proper level. Each region and climate of the country has its own particular types of grasses which require a minimum height to flourish. It can be tempting to the home owner to lower the height of the cutting deck in hopes of having to experience the summer heat less frequently. Never cut off more than one third of the total length of grass at any one time. Doing so will protect the lower depths from the heat.

Following the contours of the yard in order to avoid scalping the lawn, will help to achieve a proper and consistent look. Making sure the blade is sharp and the cutting deck free from debris, along with proper watering and fertilizing, will almost certainly guarantee a beautiful and healthy lawn of which the neighbors will be envious.

For additional information on lawn maintenance and proper irrigation methods visit www.advancedirrigationmn.com.

Article independently authored by Daniel P. Elliott. The content herein may or may not reflect the views and opinions of Advanced Irrigation of Minnesota.

Proper Fertilizing and Irrigation Saves Money on Lawn Maintenance and Increases the Home Value

Americans have reached a point where the majority of retail stores, fast food chain restaurants, and service industries are designed to provide mediocre service under the guise of good customer service. "One size fits all" is true, except when it comes to every individual on earth. The same is true of a home owner's home and property.

Throughout the days of yesteryear, tract housing was popular and well received by the public. Today, every home owner's lawn is different from their neighbor's regarding drainage, water requirements and layout. Because of such variation from one property to another, it is extremely important for the home owner to customize the needs of their lawn in order to achieve good results.

Most home owners probably do not give a second thought about the lawn except when it is being mowed. Mowing and trimming are just small parts, but can have disastrous results if cut too infrequently and too short. The most important aspect of achieving a healthy lawn is to make sure it is receiving a sufficient and proper amount of irrigation. Having a professionally designed irrigation or sprinkler system installed can actually save the home owner money on monthly and annual utility expenses. How is this possible? The same way a motion sensor activates a lamp, only when it is needed.

A good sprinkler installer and lawn care professional should always recommend installing a rain gauge along with any irrigation sprinkler setup. The purpose of this is, again, to save money and conserve water. Unfortunately a large percentage of home owners who have a sprinkler system don't rely on or even have a rain gauge installed on the sprinkler system. These individuals may as well leave the faucet and car running indefinitely, every single light on in the house and open their wallets to every passerby. Of course this is an extreme scenario, but essentially is the case. There are additional ways to save money on maintaining a healthy lawn.

Fertilizing one's lawn is not quite as simple as running out to the home improvement store, buying a bag of fertilizer and dumping it throughout the lawn. While this is not necessarily rocket science, it can take experience to properly treat a lawn. While the most popular types of fertilizer found in the retail store are usually engineered, there are organic fertilizers which can minimize the amount of additives and are advertised as environmentally friendly. Many of these fertilizers will include a weed control formula as well.

Because the quality of fertilizer can vary greatly from one manufacturer to another and the percentages of nutrients can also vary from line to line, it is best to consult with an expert in the lawn care field before experimenting on one's lawn. A healthy lawn can be much easier and inexpensive to maintain than bringing back a patchy or overgrown property and letting it fall back into disrepair the following season.

For more information on fertilizing and irrigation to save you money, contact www.advancedirrigationmn.com today.

Article independently authored by Daniel P. Elliott. The content herein may or may not reflect the views and opinions of Advanced Irrigation.