May showers last month created for some very wet soggy soil at many homes and properties that Rain Rich manages. I measured 4" of rain for just one week at my home. Today is another soaker. This is much more water than most plants can use and a lot more than most soils can absorb. If you are watering automatically during these wet spells than please turn your clock to 'off'. If you have a rain sensor (an absolute must) and it works than that is great, however, when the weather is nice and the rain sensor dries out and your system comes back on - is it really necessary to water?
Overwatering creates numerous problems and is probably worse than not watering at all. Some of these problems include:
* Soil erosion - all that great top soil that your turf and plants love - gone!
* Leaching of nutrients - all that fertilizer you spend a small fortune for literally goes down the drain!
* Saturation of pore spaces within the soil - the plants drown.
* Puddles - mosquitoes love them!
* Wet basements - great for producing mold.
To prevent overwatering make sure you have a rain sensor. Make sure your rain sensor works! Test your rain sensor periodically by spraying the garden hose over it, gently, while the system is running. The system should shut down. If it doesn't then replace it. Rain sensors are inexpensive and pay for themselves in the first two years. Also, they don't last forever. If you have a rain sensor and it is 5 - 10 years old then there is a good chance it doesn't work. I like rain sensors made by Hunter Industries. Rain Bird and Toro also make a very good rain sensor. I would try and match the rain sensor brand with the controller brand. If your controller has a bypass switch than make sure it is on 'active'. Hunter has a new product on the market called the Solar Sync that will automatically increase or decrease your run times based on temperature and sunlight. It is a very cool device that is simple to set up and program. If you have an old electromechanical clock than upgrade to a new electronic controller. I like and I install Hunter Industries model Pro-C and Hunter ICC because they are reliable and easy to use. With a new electronic controller you can set the time to the minute. If your lawn only needs 18 minutes and your running the system for 30 minutes than you are wasting 12 minutes x 10gpm ( average residential use) = 120 gpm per cycle! If you run that one zone for 70 cycle per season x 120 gpm = 8,400 gallons per season per one zone. Multiply by 6 zones/property and now you are wasting 50,400 gallon per season! Multiply by 100 homes and well ... you do the math! It is also a good idea to check your system out regularly. Once a month in the spring and fall and once a week in the summer. A good controller will have a test cycle built into the controller that you can activate and the system will run through automatically for at least 2 minutes a zone. All you have to do is watch and pay attention and you will see if the sprinklers are working properly. If your sprinklers are not working properly than take care of immediately! Call a professional to take care of the problem and check through the rest of your system. At, Rain Rich sprinklers, all of our service technicians have studied irrigation auditing and are trained to check if a sprinkler system is functioning efficiently. If you have a water issue and it is not related to irrigation then have your soils tested and the grade of your property inspected. There are many simple inexpensive remedies available that can save you money and provide and effective solution. If a healthy and happy landscape is your goal than we have some simple answers and solutions.
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