As the temperature gets closer and closer to the century mark, I get more and more questions about how to keep your lawn and landscape looking good in this Texas heat. Not to mention during Stage 3 water restrictions.
First, you need to water for about sixty minutes in the summer. That can vary based on a few variables (has it rained? Do you have a lot of shade?) But sixty minutes is a good basic guideline for our area.
The challenge though is this, the infamous clay soil in our area can only absorb about ten minutes of watering. Anything beyond that is going to run off which is bad for your water bill and our environment.
Which is why Village Green usually recommends you schedule two mornings per week in three ten minute bursts (run your system with three starts times, 2am, 4am and 6am on each of the days.) That will give you a total of sixty minutes.
I said usually because since June 1st, many of us are under Stage 3 water restrictions which only allows us to water once per week.
If this is your predicament, then you need to quite literally change to Plan B, and water of 2am, 4am, and 6am. Then add (Program B on most sprinkler controllers) water times of 6pm, 8pm and 10pm. Most plants, including your lawn, will be fine on this once per week summer watering schedule.
Customers with a larger property may not be able to achieve all of the desired minutes in the one day you are allowed under Stage 3 water restrictions. If that is the case contact the city to see if it you can get a waiver. Most cities will grant waivers for residents with large properties.
One final point, if your sprinkler system has rotary heads (that turn out slowly and send out long streams of water) you will need to water those zones twice as long. The reason being they are covering twice the area with the same number of gallons and need to run twice as long to put out an inch of water (which amounts to about two hours per zone in the summer.)
Visit the Village Green Resource Center for helpful links for your city watering guidelines as well as the downloadable Village Green Watering Guide. If you need more help programming your sprinkler, or making sure your system is in top condition give us a call at 972-495-6990, email me at [email protected] or fill out our contact form. We offer affordable sprinkler system inspections and tune-ups that will guarantee appropriate and adequate water coverage for your lawn. Our certified irrigation technicians can also install water-conserving nozzles and applicators so that water usage is as efficient as possible.