Insight To Maintain, Check, And Repair Your Yard's Sprinkler System
During the heat of summer, your lawn relies on your sprinkler system to stay healthy and look beautiful. Any damage to your system or insufficient watering can kill off your lawn in spots and require you to reseed or lay new sod. Here are some tips to maintain, check, and repair your sprinkler system so you can have a healthy lawn every year.
Measure Your Sprinkler's Delivery Amount
Check your sprinkler's spray to make sure you are watering your lawn adequately, especially during times of excessive heat. A lawn needs anywhere from one to one and one-half inches of water each week to stay healthy.
Measure your sprinkler's output by placing an empty tuna can on your lawn and run your sprinklers on a normal cycle. Measure the collected water and adjust your watering lengths, as needed.
Check and Inspect Your Sprinklers
During the summer season, it is also a good idea to keep an eye on your lawn's health to determine if your sprinklers are working properly. Many homeowners water their lawn at night with the use of an automatic timer on their system, so they may not see their sprinklers in action very often. For this reason, look for any dead or dying spots on areas of your lawn. If you find them, investigate further to see if there is a problem with your sprinklers system.
Turn on your sprinklers to make sure all the sprinkler heads are working right and are not broken. For example, you may have a broken sprinkler head that sprays a heavy flow of water, leaving the rest of the sprinklers on the line without the right water pressure to fully work. A sprinkler head may also get bumped and end up spraying in the wrong direction, causing dead spots in your lawn. If this occurs, replace the broken sprinkler with a new one or reposition the sprinkler and recheck your system.
Winterize Your Sprinklers Properly
It is important to know when to shut off your sprinklers for the winter and blow out any remaining water to prevent freeze damage during the winter. Depending on where you live and the climate, the month of October is when you can begin to have freezing temperatures at night. When your lawn gets its first freeze, it will begin to go into a dormancy and stop growing where it will not require water.
At this time, you should shut off the main water control to your sprinklers and drain the in-ground pipes. You can drain them by blowing them out with compressed air or use the sprinkler's manual or automatic drain valve. If you are not sure how to do this, contact a local sprinkler professional, and they can winterize your sprinklers and prevent having to make repairs from freeze damage in the spring.
For more information, contact a company like Pacific Sunscapes.