Let’s talk irrigation. June, July and August are the testing grounds of uniform sprinkler coverage. It is easy to mistake whether an area is getting enough water during an irrigation cycle. But the grass will not lie! Dry, brown, and thinning areas are evidence of a lack of uniformity in irrigation coverage. Uniform coverage means all your areas get exactly the same amount of coverage and it is not observable with the naked eye. It must be measured! When isolated sections in your lawn get less water than the adjacent areas, your lawn has a lack of uniformity. This is a very common and overlooked problem in Colorado Lawns by Colorado Homeowners. Just because it looks like your system is watering evenly often times it is not. This post wants to help inform and guide to help the reader get more irrigation bang out of their bucks!
I am really stumped at why conversations about homeowner’s mechanical irrigation systems, run times, and system limitations is such a hot topic for Colorado homeowners. I’ve personally spent many hours on the lawn with homeowners pointing out sunken heads that no longer pop up high enough to adequately cover sections. I’ve shown them heads leaning like the Tower of Pisa. We have even ran their system for 15 minutes in order to collect water to show them objectively they have coverage issues. And often their response is “It just can’t be” or I designed it myself so I know its’ right” and my favorite “My system runs; it can’t be the culprit. I must have insects or a fungus”. Imagine spending upwards of $300 dollars on a fungicide program and still having dry spots which is the true cause!!!
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Why water your lawn if you don’t take the time to do it right? We see lawn fertilization as an investment and take your investment seriously. Fertilization and irrigation need to go hand in hand – both need to be working correctly in order to have a healthy lawn during summer in Colorado. Just watering for the sake of watering seems futile.
Uniform sprinkler coverage takes intentionality. Lack of uniform sprinkler coverage causes – heat stress, Ascochyta, and eventually dead spots. How can this happen? My sprinkler guy turned it on and said it looked good! Spring system turn-on does not usually address coverage. You cannot analyze sprinkler coverage uniformity with the naked eye it must be measured. A Sprinkler Audit involves checking for plants blocking sprinkler heads, broken heads, filter cleanouts/replacements, sunken sprinkler heads, and checking uniformity of sprinkler coverage – the all important overlap! Annual sprinkler maintenance is necessary. You can’t set it and forget it.
Another great post is Common Lawn Care Myths Debunked. https://myecoturf.com/common-lawn-care-myths-debunked/
