In Austin Winter watering is essential to the health of your lawn in more ways than one. Your Sprinkler Irrigation System is lubricated by water. By simply turning on your sprinkler system once a week, you can save hundreds of dollars on sprinkler repairs. If a sprinkler system is left off for a long period of time, valves and seals begin to deteriorate. Not only will you save money by following these precautions, you will provide your lawn with the extra moisture it needs. As you know, Austin is known for its dry and hot summers – lawns that are not watered on a regular basis in the winter, have a greater chance of experiencing damage in the late Spring.
In addition, turf grass uses water as an internal cooling mechanism on really hot summer days – shade grass on the other hand needs water as an external cooling agent. Everyone’s lawn is different when it comes to soil type, slope, and condition of the lawn – which means your Irrigation run-times will not all be the same. A very common mistake that we see are lawns that are over watered in a short time frame. Over watering encourages shallow roots, contributes to thatch accumulation, soil compaction, and even weed germination. Shallow roots also affect the health of your turf and as a result is more prone to disease, insect infestations, or damage from heat/cold. Deep watering produces deep roots and healthy grass.
So how do we fix the issues noted above? We encourage customers to break up the station’s run-times. In other words if you typically water your lawn for fifteen minutes, try watering two cycles at seven minute intervals. Once your system has run completely through the zones, it will start back over and water another seven minutes.
If you are asking yourself why this is more effective, think back to your kitchen sink. A dry sponge does not soak up much water – by simply dampening the sponge, more water is absorbed. You lawn is the same way. The first cycle gets the ground damp, while the second cycle really soaks deep into the roots.
