Ahhh the suburbs, green plush lawns, carefully manicured shrubs…and hours of endless maintenance.
Ha! Don’t get me wrong, it’s all sooooo nice to look at, but the dirty downside is that each year, you have to maintain all of the automatic gadgets that help keep it up…namely, sprinklers.
Depending on where you live in the country, you may or may not have a sprinkler system. Here in the suburbs, it’s all the rage to have an automatic sprinkler system. The idea is that you will never have to lift a finger. The reality is that sometimes you run over a sprinkler head with the lawn mower, or find out that water pressure is different depending on the hour you run it. It’s mind boggling to be middle class sometimes. 😉
Here’s the 411 on BASIC sprinkler maintenance, you know, so you can do other cool things with your day, like travel:
- Every spring, run a full sprinkler cycle and watch it. Yes, it will likely bore you to tears, but odds are, you will need to adjust the heads of the sprinklers to make sure it is hitting every square inch of green. You can have fun later…after the sprinklers have done their thing. This is the time to fix any broken heads or issues.
- If you get dry spots in the lawn, and have already inspected the sprinkler cycle, you may want to change up WHEN you are watering the lawn. If the whole dang neighborhood has sprinklers on at 6 a.m. your water pressure will not look the same as it did when you inspected it at the comfortable 1 p.m. hour.
- Make sure to blow out sprinklers every fall BEFORE the first freeze. Water in the pipes all winter equals frozen cracked pipes. So, unless you love digging up your lawn to repair cracked pipes, take the time to blow them out {or hire someone to do it for you}.
- Gauge how much water you are putting onto the lawn by placing a bowl/cup in the lawn during the test cycle. This will help you to know how much to water the lawn during the week.
Happy suburban living,
Mavis
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athena says
I LOVED the automatic sprinklers at our last house. They were connected into our raised garden beds and made growing vegetables and fruits SO much easier! Unfortunately the irrigation water they used often deposited nasty weed seeds on the grass and garden, making it difficult to have a pretty yard. Our new house has a sprinkler system but with drought restrictions I don’t think we will ever be able to use it (we moved from Idaho to Texas). It’s a huge fine just to use the hose to water anything.
Practical Parsimony says
If you can use PEX for the underground lines, the PEX will freeze but when it thaws, the PEX is not damaged. My new water line is PEX. A professional can explain it to you. Now, one plumber did not want to use PEX because he was not familiar with it. Just a thought.
Pam says
I live on 10 acres and only have about 1/4 with grass on it (it’s the dog’s area). We planted drought tolerant grass because I just don’t understand putting water on something that the dogs use for a bathroom. I like having a pretty yard too so I mix flowers in and among my vegetable garden so I still get that pop of color we all enjoy.
Fred Summers says
I like your first tip. A lot of things can go wrong over the summer but making sure that your sprinkler system is doing what it needs to is important. I always find it funny when there is system that is spraying on the road. It is an easy fix you just need to be aware of it.
Callie Marie says
My husband and I rent a house where we are expected to take care of the lawn. We try our best, but it is hard when the landlords aren’t helping to fix their sprinkler system. I think I should tell them some of your tips. If they watch and entire sprinkler cycle, maybe then they will know they need to be fixed.
Veronica Teller says
Thanks for these tips about maintaining sprinklers. I like tip #4 about “gauging how much water” you are using. When I was a kid, my mom would always put a tuna can out on the lawn and when it was full, us kids would move or turn off the sprinkler. That way, the lawn would get watered evenly.
Mavis says
That’s awesome. And funny that that’s a memory that sticks with you!
Linda Tucker says
Thanks for sharing this advice on maintaining your lawn sprinklers! I had no idea that you are actually supposed to blow out the sprinklers every winter before it gets too cold. That is something that I definitely haven’t been doing, so I should probably try it this season. There haven’t been any leaking problems as far as I can tell, though, so hopefully they’re still in good condition.
Deanna R. Jones says
I was wondering why I would have dry spots in my lawn, even after watering my lawn all summer long. You made an interesting point about how my water pressure could be affected if my neighbors turn on their sprinklers around the same time. I’m pretty sure that we all leave our sprinklers on during the same time in the day, so perhaps changing up the time I turn them on will finally get rid of my brown spots.
Finn Stewart says
Since I’m a first time home owner, I’m not sure what the best practices are in maintaining a lawn and the sprinkler system. I really like your tip about making sure to blow out sprinklers every fall before the first freeze. I’m not sure how to go about doing that, so I will definitely have to call a lawn sprinkler service company to help me with that process so that my sprinkler system doesn’t get damaged in the winter.