Water, so much of our world revolves around water. I remember when growing up some of the fondest memories that I have of our family outings were at lakes, rivers or on the Oregon Coast. Even today I spend a ton of time on the water in Newport fishing, cruising or just spending time at my boat. We also have 2 family reunions and a summer camp out on the Columbia, again it’s all about the water! How much time do you spend on or near the water?
There are also negative impacts of water, flooding, storms, wild ocean waves that sweep people off the beach (be careful!!), etc, etc.
One of the negative impacts water has on the landscape is that people tend to overwater their yards and then there’s the catch 22 situation if you don’t water enough it dries out, so most folks just pour the water to the landscape, and that is exactly what you don’t want to do.
I have touched on this subject before, what usually happens when a person has an automatic sprinkler system is as soon as they turn it on in the summer they walk away and don’t monitor the system, just because you have an automatic system doesn’t mean you walk away. After we are finished installing your new system it is your job to learn how to monitor the controller and understand what the water is actually doing to your plants and grass, if not you can pay us and we will make sure that the proper amount of water is being applied.
This is why in the summer I post a weekly updated watering schedule for you all to follow, with suggestions based on type of sprinkler, soils, slope, grass vs. plants. Keep tuned and you will see me post it here as soon as we need water.
Plants
When I look at a landscape in the summer I can tell when it is being over watered, the plants can take on a different look in many ways, from off color to wilted looking foliage, to just plain dead dye back. Of course soil also plays a part in the puzzle and a combination of heavy clay soil, an improperly installed plant and over watering will surely spell the demise of a plant.
Grass
It’s not much different with grass, the main difference is that the grass roots are shallow and will recover vs. a plant that will basically drown.
The Crane fly also loves it when you folks overwater especially late in the fall. I have suggested before that it is good to dry out the lawn in the fall, let it stress a little this helps to drive the roots down as they chase water, it also helps to kill off the crane fly eggs that have been laid in your lawn soil.
Right now the crane fly is as bad as I have seen it in years, some of this can be alleviated by shutting down the water system in September as soon as the temps start to cool.
OK, well hopefully you learned a little more here with this blog, main thing it to spend the time to understand you sprinkler system and if you don’t just give me a call...
Tim Barnes,
Westside Landscape
590 Greenwood Rd
Independence, OR 97351
Phone: 503-585-9517
Mobile: 503-991-0285
FAX: 503-606-0439
www.westsidelandscape.com
E-mail: tim@westsidelandscape.com
