SPRING SHOWERS

February 2007
SPRING IS COMING!

It may be hard to believe, but once again, another spring season is right around the corner and it is time to start up your irrigation. .Perhaps you already have some ideas for your yard this year. Maybe you’re thinking of adding a bed or two to the landscape, possibly changing some plant types to provide a different color scheme, or maybe just doing some turf renovation to get your lawn looking a little better this year than it did last year.

In either case, if your property is irrigated, you should take into consideration what affect your landscape changes may have on the irrigation system. Is a turf area going to be converted into a bed? Are you going to get rid of a bed and plant grass over that area? Do you plan on planting a tree in your yard, if so, will it block irrigation water to other areas of the landscape?

If you need a second opinion on how your irrigation may need to be modified, give us a call. We can look at what you have and recommend any necessary changes.

Please call us for more information on rain sensors, exclusion meters, or with any other questions that you may have.  

CONTROLLER PROGRAMMING TIPS

Programming an irrigation controller has been compared to programming a VCR. To those of you who cringe at the thought of programming your VCR, this should not scare you. Programming an irrigation controller is easy, if you follow this simple sequence.

1. Set the current time and day on the controller

2. Assign each "zone" to a program (A, B, C or D on most controllers) A program should consist of all zones that you want watering the same number of days in a week.

3. Once all zones are assigned to a particular program, you can tell each program which days of the week you want it to water.

4. Assign a start time for each program (usually between 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM).

5. Give each zone a specific amount of time to water.

6. You’re done!

It’s actually easier than programming a VCR . The important thing to remember is that as the weather changes, you will have to change the irrigation program. This may consist of increasing or decreasing the number of run days per week or increasing or decreasing the amount of time on a given zone. As you get familiar with how your irrigation is affecting your yard, you will be more comfortable making changes to the program (s).

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING ISN'T ALWAYS GOOD

One of the most common problems we see when dealing with irrigation service calls is a landscape that's being over-watered. Sometimes the problem is not very severe and a zone time just needs to be reduced. Other times, the controller needs to be completely re-programmed to reduce over-watering of the entire property.

A general rule-of-thumb for programming a controller for a typical Virginia spring season is:

Rotor heads covering turf – 20 minutes, 3 times per week
Spray heads covering turf – 5 - 10 minutes, 3 times per week
Spray heads covering beds – 10 minutes, 2 times per week

By using this schedule as a starting point, you should be providing your plants and turf enough water to help them along during this period of rapid growth. If you notice that more water is needed, you can easily "bump up" the watering times or frequencies to suit your particular situation.

It is almost always better to slightly under-water, than to over-water. By not over-watering, you are forcing your plant material to "search" for water. This causes the plant to develop a strong root system in order to survive. If your irrigation system becomes disabled for several days you will stand a better chance of having your plants "weather the drought" if their root system is used to having to find water.