Today is the first day all year that the temperature will not be above freezing. If you have not already had you sprinkler system winterized you need to do it immediately. Our customers from warmer parts of the country, might not be aware of the need to winterize their sprinkler system. The back flow device and the copper pipes leading to the house are in danger of freezing and cracking, potentially costing you hundreds of dollars and creating a mess in the Spring. So if you still need someone to come out and winterize your sprinkler system, call or e-mail us today.
Archive for the ‘Lawn Sprinklers’ Category
First Winter Freeze
Monday, November 12th, 2012Drip Irrigation – How to find out if your drip irrigation is working
Monday, May 21st, 2012Sometimes it is hard for homeowners to determine if their drip irrigation is working. One common mistake is looking at the surface of the mulch or rock and panicking because there isn’t any sign of water. It is very easy to over water and drown plants, too much water can be just as deadly as too little water. It is best to leave the clock set for a watering time determined by either the landscaper or the irrigation technician. If the plants seem like they are not getting enough water follow these steps to see if the system is working.
1. Let the system run and then go outside after it is finished.
2 Pull back the mulch, or rock near the plant. Preferably a 1′ by 1′ area.
3. Using a spade or your hand, dig down a couple inches in the dirt in several areas. Is the dirt moist? If so it is working, remember there shouldn’t be standing water around the plant because you may be over watering the plant.
4. If the ground is hard or completely dry then your drip might not be working. There could be several reasons for this and it is best to call an irrigation professional to examine your drip irrigation.
5. If it is moist but you feel it isn’t getting enough water, it is best to call a landscaper or irrigation specialist and let them determine how much extra water you need.
We Can Water Your Flowers
Monday, April 23rd, 2012Are you tired of hand watering your flower pots or window boxes? Do you have annuals around your deck, patio, pool, front step, or garage? Tired of coming home from the lake to find the flowers wilting or dead?
Now your automatic sprinkler system can water your flowers for you. Join many of our customers who have already invested in new drip technology. Look at some of these beautiful pictures that show how others have had amazing results with automatic watering. Let your system do the watering for you.
Check out our link to drip irrigation for plants and pots here.
Gallery of automatically watered pots and flowers
A Letter to Our Customers
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012Dear Customers,
We have to change the way we are watering our landscaping. Most systems need to be updated with new controllers. Here are some facts concerning most sprinkler systems today.
- Nationwide, residential outdoor water use exceeds seven billion gallons of water each day, most of which is used for watering our landscaping.
- Experts estimate that half of this water goes to waste due to evaporation, wind and improperly scheduled run times.
- There is currently an estimated 13.5 million irrigation systems installed in residential lawns across the United States and an additional three hundred thousand new systems are installed every year.
- It is estimated that less than ten percent of these units already use water conserving controllers. This means many systems are wasting water!
The problem
Currently the most common method used to schedule irrigation is a manually programmed clock timer that irrigates a specified amount on a preset schedule program by the user. Clock timer controllers can be significant source of wasted water, because irrigation schedules are often set to water during the height of the growing season and are not adjusted to actual watering needs. Plant requirements decrease in the fall, many homeowners forget to reset their irrigation schedules, over watering their lawns.
The solution
An alternative to clock timers is weather based controllers. Weather based controllers can make adjustments to watering times every day. Watering is tailored to the weather conditions and apply water only when the landscaping needs it. This creates a healthier, better looking landscape and saves water and money!
We have seen 25%-40% reduction in water usage after a weather based controller is installed. These devices cost $300-$800 for most systems. On most systems they can save 50,000 to 80,000 gallons of water a year.
It is our goal to get all our customers converted to one of these smart controllers. If all the systems in America had weather based controllers, billions of gallons of water and millions of dollars could be saved. If you would like more information give us a call at 952-929-1232 or contact us here.
How To: Check and Remove Start Times (Video)
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011Nobody wants to be on the receiving end of a high water bill. Sometimes people do not realize they are over watering until after they get a large bill. There can be many reasons for a large bill and one of the reasons is two start times in your controller. Having multiple start times can also cause your system to run all the time. This is a handy You-tube video on how to check and remove start times from your controller. NOTE: This is for Hunter brand Pro-C controllers.