Lawn care tip of the week.

[setterguy]

Stealing the idea from other forums here on FM, I thought that we could have a Lawn/garden tip of the week. My expertise is irrigation and will put out the first tip next week, but I will need volunteers to fill in my WIDE gaps in lawn knowledge. Any volunteers can post here....look for the first tip the week of the 14th.

[joe_stack20]

can the first step be about watering your lawn.....I have nothing but large green spots where my sprinkler heads are..and are very apparent than any other part of my lawn! I had the local irrigation team come over and look at it...and they told me that there was no leak found. They did say that it might be caused by the head rotating 360 degrees. I have no idea...my lwan looks like its got green pok a dots! HELP ME!!!!!

[LwnmwnMan2]

Has this happened before??

I'm sure Setterguy will have other ideas, but here's my two past observations.

1. You either have low pressure, so the heads aren't spitting water across the entire area (zone).

2. Your heads are set up wrong and the water doesn't cover the entire area.

Have you ever seen this before?? Or is this a new(er) install?

[Moose]

Is the problem on the entire lawn or just one zone on the irrigation system? If it's just one zone I would say you have a rock in the valve. Also you may want to check you're vacume breaker to make sure one of the handle valves didn't get turned down.

[joe_stack20]

Well there is one very apparent green spot on my lawn where the head is...I have great Pressure...and have a Goulds Plus pump to get me more pressure too. The heads shoot fine and each sprinkler head is reached by another one....i just dont get it

[LwnmwnMan2]

Quote:

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Well there is one very apparent green spot on my lawn where the head is...I have great Pressure...and have a Goulds Plus pump to get me more pressure too. The heads shoot fine and each sprinkler head is reached by another one....i just dont get it

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Is the grass a thicker blade, lighter green color?? Or does it all look to be the same grass?

BTW Setterguy, I hope you don't think we're hijacking your thread.

[joe_stack20]

The grass blades around the head is a very nice lush green with your normal blade length/width. In all honesty if i could get my entire lawn to look the way it does around that sprinkler head i would be one very happy lawn dude!!

I just dont know what it is...this system was installed in 98...and was ran every season..and blown out every fall. It sat unused the summer of 2005...and i began using it as it was last used this summer being 2006. I have adjusted the heads because after a year of being unused the ground seemed to settle a bit and not making the heads "stick up" properly. that is what i told my "iffigation guy" last week when i had him look at that inparticular head...he looked and there was no leak! I am trying to figure this one out guys..please help

[ScoutII]

Sounds like the valve on that zone is not closing completely. Zone probably looks like it shuts down, but a small amount still passing through the valve. Is the green area next to the head at the lowest elevation in the zone? If so, check the valve diaphram for small foreign objects such as sand ect.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Quote:

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The grass blades around the head is a very nice lush green with your normal blade length/width. In all honesty if i could get my entire lawn to look the way it does around that sprinkler head i would be one very happy lawn dude!!

I just dont know what it is...this system was installed in 98...and was ran every season..and blown out every fall. It sat unused the summer of 2005...and i began using it as it was last used this summer being 2006. I have adjusted the heads because after a year of being unused the ground seemed to settle a bit and not making the heads "stick up" properly. that is what i told my "iffigation guy" last week when i had him look at that inparticular head...he looked and there was no leak! I am trying to figure this one out guys..please help

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You say it's very lush and green. It almost somewhat sounds like quackgrass. But then you say it has the same length / width blade as the other grass, so then it wouldn't be.

How large diameter are the circles?

[joe_stack20]

Its not quack grass....I know that for sure...the main circle is maybe a 7-8' diameter more in the shape of a oval...and the head itself is on a slight grade. To me i would swear there is a leak there....but had the irrigation team out...and the dug all around it and couldnt find one!

[Jeremiah Johnson]

if you said the heads are reaching eachother and if they are adjusted right, are you sure your giving that zone enough time? You might have to add more time to that zone if you are playing catch-up from the heat wave

[joe_stack20]

my timer max's out at 60min per zone....and thats what it is set at. Maybe too much water???

[setterguy]

Anyway to post a picture of the problem? If it is a valve not shutting off there is a quick way to find out. Turn off all water in the house and look at your water meter, if it moves at all you have a valve that is not shutting down all the way. If the whole yard looks like this then there is a different problem. The heads may not be adjusted right, you may have some bad seals around the heads, There may be too many start times in the controller which is causing more than one zone to fire at a time, thus not allowing any to come on, so many things it could be its tough to diagnose over a computer. Pictures would help. If it is the lowest head on the zone you will get some "seepage" after the zone shuts off, depending on what kind of heads you have they do make o-rings that fit into the bottom of the head and will stop the draining of the system. Is the head set too low???

[ScoutII]

Find the valve that runs the zone. Shut off the water at the backflow. Open the valve body. Look at the diaphram and its seat. Diaphram either has foreign object imbeded in it or seat has a nick or groove allowing a slight flow of water to the zone. Is the lawn around the head wet? If so, you need to do what I have explained above. It will improve the condition you have described.

[Finlander]

Water when dry!

[MuleShack]

Core Aerate your lawn in the spring.

Helps fertilizer and moisture (when ever we will get more)to get to the roots faster and soak in.

Also apply Gypsum pellets to your lawn if your on a Clay type soil. It helps break up the density and helps the plants/grass get more nutrients out of the existing soil.

Typical 10K SF residential yard, 4 bags or 150lbs. Results are not immediate, but after the first year, it starts to show.

[fishing tech]

What about sandy soil? I have about 8 inches of black dirt and the rest is sand. We had about a 1/2 inch of rain last night and in 2 days it will be dry and hard.

[MuleShack]

Coring and Gypsum should provide same results as far as treating the top soil. If applied in spring and fall for a couple seasons, it will condition the black dirt to some extent. The coring will also break up top layer of soil and put the plugs on the top to aid in thatch decomposition.

As far as the drying out part...with the sand under neath, there is no "fix" for that. You will have to treat the 8" of soil and then probably install irrigation system if you want to keep your lawn thick and lush.

[boener]

Want the best quality turf in the neighborhood?

-Irrigation is key

-Aereate 3-4 times a year(16 cores per sq. foot)

-1.5" of water/rain a week

-fertilize (after soil test) every 40 days

-mow your grass at 3.0" and keep your blades sharpened

REMEMBER:Grass is grown by the inch and killed by the foot!

shannonboen at yahoo.com

[hoggs222]

Here's a tip! Don't plant the day before hail!

[mrscott]

If I may offer an observation on my own behalf:

When I set my, "ts ts ts ts ttststststststs" sprinkler, (know what I mean?) I often move the upper blade and turn the side screw in so that the water comes out at a lower level and a shorter distance. The length of my grass, (as the sprinkler has a low profile), actually disrupts the flow of the projecting water and waters in a smaller area; creating a more watered area near the sprinkler. I do it on purpose because I spot water fairly often. How's the length of your grass?

Just my 1.186 cents

[LwnmwnMan2]

I figure I nor setterguy, nor anyone else has posted a "tip of the week" since last year, I'll unsticky this topic.

If it comes back up again, people can respond.

Hopefully this year, with the addition of employees, I'll have more time to post what steps we'll be taking in the upooming weeks with our commercial properties, to give the homeowners a heads up on when we're putting down certain fertilizers, weed control products, other products that will help homeowners in maintaining their landscapes with more ease.

Here's to a heathly happy landscape in 2009!!!

[Quetico]

LwnmwnMan2- I just got to take the first shot for the season:

Everyone resolve your lawn maintenance issues by switching to no-mow fescue and restored prairie. Cut your maintenance costs by 75% over night. The cost savings in maintenance will pay for the cost of the conversions within 5 years and I'll even put a guarantee on it.

[LwnmwnMan2]

LwnmwnMan2- I just got to take the first shot for the season:

Everyone resolve your lawn maintenance issues by switching to no-mow fescue and restored prairie. Cut your maintenance costs by 75% over night. The cost savings in maintenance will pay for the cost of the conversions within 5 years and I'll even put a guarantee on it.

I knew I could get you out of the woodwork.

[Charley]

The more chemicals you use the more it pollutes OUR lakes, rivers and streames. One more ground water.