A lawn sprinkler is a mechanism that allows water to be distributed in a spray in order to irrigate a residential lawn or garden. To care your lawn sprinkler is an important tools. Lawn sprinklers are available in a wide variety of forms, materials and prices. The oscillating sprinkler is the most popular due to its affordability and durability.
Why Use A Lawn Sprinkler
Sprinklers are more efficient compared to other forms of watering. Installing a lawn sprinkler helps to keep your grass and landscape green, beautiful and healthy. A perfect lawn sprinkler save time, money and water and also ensure that your lawn is evenly watered. With the return of warmer weather and green grass, you may be left wondering how you can use your lawn sprinkler to get a perfect garden and yard while saving on your water bill. Here are some helpful tips to use a lawn sprinkler for your lawn garden that will help you maintain the healthy lawn that you always wanted.
1. Know How Much Water You Need
In order to conserve water, it is important to first determine how much water is required to maintain your yard or garden versus the amount your sprinkler is putting out at any given time. It is estimated that a lawn sprinkler can easily distribute at least 300 gallons of water per hour which may result in an over-watered lawn. The best way to avoid overwatering your lawn is to install soil moisture or rain sensors to override the automatic lawn sprinkler when necessary. The rain sensor basically senses rainfall and once it detects the set amount of water, it automatically shuts down your sprinkler. Soil moisture sensors can detect moisture at the root level thus they are more accurate and offer better water savings.
2. Create Watering Zones
Conserving water in large areas can be a difficult task thus it is important to create watering zones or strategically use water runoff. If your lawn garden has several trees and shrubs that do not need as much water as the grass below, then your placement of sprinklers and watering schedule should be planned with this in mind. Instead of overwatering the trees and shrubs at the expense of the grass below them, it is recommended that you water them separately. This way you use what is necessary for the trees and the grass below gets the runoff water. Therefore it is advisable to strategically place your sprinklers in those ares where the water will only reach the grass.
3. Check Your Sprinkler Regularly For Maintenance Issues
One of the best tips for conserving your water when using a lawn sprinkler is to regularly perform maintenance checks on your lawn sprinklers for any maintenance issue. The water could be spraying in random places as a result of clogged spray heads which makes it less efficient. If the ground around your sprinkler is unusually wet, then you need to check if there is any leakage. Your lawn sprinklers should never have broken parts and should always be in good working condition to ensure that you do not waste water unnecessarily.
4. Water Your Lawn In The Morning
The best time to water your lawn is in the a.m between 4 a.m and 10 a.m because at this time there is not much wind to blow away the water droplets and the air is cooler. Water evaporates fast in the middle of the day while in the evenings, the water can cling to the grass blades during the night which may cause lawn diseases. Homeowners who cannot find time to water their lawns in the mornings should probably do it on a weekend morning as watering at night is the worst thing you can do for a lawn.
5. Moisten The Soil 6 Inches Down
While using a garden lawn sprinkler, water the grass long enough to moisture the soil well enough. The water should soak at least 6 inches into the soil which is the standard depth of any healthy grass root system. It is recommended that you check the soil after 15 minutes of watering by lifting up the sod with a shovel or you can time how long it will take for the water to reach that far. You can then water your lawn for that duration of time.
6. Pulsating Lawn Sprinklers Are Better Than Oscillating Ones
A built-in lawn sprinkler is the best for watering your grass. It is an efficient system that pays off in the long run. A revolving or pulsating sprinkler connected to a garden hose is the best choice for established lawns. This sprinkler shoots out the water at an extremely high velocity horizontally which makes the water less vulnerable to evaporation and wind compared to oscillating sprinklers which sprays water straight upwards.
7. Go Easy With New Yards
Pulsating sprinklers are the best for lawns or gardens with mature grass, but with new grass, the intensity of water is likely to wash away the grass seeds. In such a case, oscillating sprinklers are recommended until the grass is mature enough. Water from oscillating sprinklers is not strong enough to wash off the seeds.
8. Water Your Lawn At Least Twice A Week
When using a lawn sprinkler for your grass, watering should be done at least twice a week depending on the soil type. Clay soils should be watered at least once a week while sandy soils should be watered every three days. Water your lawn for 15 minutes daily. While few waterings can encourage deeper root growth, too much water on the other hand promote the growth of fungus and a shallow root growth. It is wise to water infrequently but water deeply at the same time.
9. Make Use Of A Timer
To ensure that your water is not wasted and the lawn gets the right amount of water, it is important to get a timer that automatically turns off the water aftrer a designated time.
10. Water In Stages To Soften Hard Soil
Lawns that are in housing developments where the top soil is so hard requires watering in stages to soften the ground. Water after every 30 minutes to avoid a run off that may occur when you water at once.
11. Get A Licensed Professional To Install Your Sprinkler
Sprinkler installers are not necessarily licensed plumbers and in most cases neither are you. It is important to have a licensed professional install your sprinkler to spare you the headache and repair time.
Conclusion
Throwing water all over your property may seem easy, but you need to be conscious of your surroundings as many areas do not allow watering the sidewalk. Always be careful to avoid any slips or falls that may be caused by sloppy watering.
About the Author
Ethan Jackson is a 27 year-old Blogger from USA. He completed his graduation from the department of CSE. And now he is doing Masters in Television and Film from a reputed University. As a blogger, he believes in quality content and backs up all of her posts with relevant research information. He loves to share his experiences on online by writing quality information in the form of guidelines, reviews, lists, and other types of blog posts to his readers. You can read more writing of Ethan here: StapleSearch.com.
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