July is Smart Irrigation Month and with the region’s recent heat, it’s a good time to review simple watering strategies that will keep your landscaping beautiful and healthy.
– Zone Defense: Schedule each individual zone in your irrigation system appropriate for the type of sprinkler, drip irrigation, garden, sun or shade exposure, and soil in that section. Different zones will almost always need different watering schedules.
– Water Belongs On Your Lawn: adjust sprinklers to water your lawn only, not the driveway, street or buildings.
– Easy Does It: Saturate root zones and let the soil dry. Watering too much and too frequently results in shallow roots, weed growth, disease and fungus.
– Timing: Watering during the heat of the day may cause losses of up to 30% due to evaporation. Prevent water loss by watering when the sun is low or down, winds are calm and temperatures are cool — typically between the evening and early morning.
– Water More Often For Shorter Periods: Setting your system to run for three, 5-minute intervals lets soil absorb more water than watering for 15 minutes at one time, reducing runoff.
– Be Smart. Smart controllers adjust the watering schedule based on the climate, often saving 30-70% in water.