Did you know an in-ground water sprinkler can help your lawn and landscape’s health?

For example, your automatic water sprinkler allows you to set it to water in any lawn care treatment you have done in your yard. If you have a Bluetooth or WiFi controller, you can turn your sprinkler system on and off from your phone.

In this blog post, you’ll learn the following four ideas:

1. Your lawn and landscape’s seasonal watering needs
2. How to optimize your water sprinkler for healthy lawn and landscaped areas
3. How to water your lawn after fertilization and weed control treatments.

Your Lawn & Landscape’s Seasonal Watering Needs

While it’s tempting to say that a light sprinkle of water every morning on your lawn and flowerbeds is a wise idea, you’d be wrong. Lawns, shrubs, trees, and flowerbeds only need 1” to 1½” of water per week, and rainwater counts toward that weekly total.

Infrequent, deep watering ensures that the water percolates through the topsoil to reach the plant roots, which causes roots to grow deep into the ground. Deep roots keep your aboveground lawn and landscape alive during hot, dry weather.

You first need to turn on your automatic sprinkler system in the spring. Here are the steps for de-winterizing your water sprinkler:

• Ensure the backflow preventer is shut off tightly so fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides don’t backflow into your home’s water system.
• Go to your automatic sprinkler system’s main panel and turn on the manual cycle to override the automatic settings. Adjust the settings for springtime irrigation. You’ll need to do this again at the beginning of summer and fall. Allow water to flow through your sprinkler system slowly.
• Turn off the sprinkler valve and check all the spray heads to ensure they are not clogged or damaged. 

 

• Slowly open the main valve. Turning it on too quickly will release too much air pressure and water into your sprinkler system.
• Avoid a water hammer, which occurs when too much water enters the lines too quickly. Not only do water hammers destroy spray heads and nozzles, but they could also harm you and any bystanders.
• Instead, allow water to slowly enter the lines until you hear water flowing through them. Then, slowly open the valve wider to allow more water to enter the lines, and continue with this process until you fully open your irrigation system.
• Walk around your property looking for any leaking lines or spray heads.

Once you’ve opened your automatic water sprinkler, go to the controller and set the percentage you want it to open when it turns on to water your lawn. Also, set the days, times, and duration you want the sprinkler system to run throughout the week.

In the spring, you can open your automatic water sprinkler to 70-80%. Then, you can open the lines up to 100-120% during the summer. When the temperature cools and there’s more rain in the fall, turn your sprinkler system back to 70-80% to prevent water waste.

Shut off your sprinkler system before the soil freezes in late fall or early winter to prevent water from freezing in the lines.

How to Optimize Your Water Sprinkler for Healthy Lawns & Landscapes

People tend to overwater their lawns and landscapes. However, you only need to water your property infrequently—once or twice a week, depending on the amount of rain that week.

You may not know how to set your automatic sprinkler system so that it conserves water and keeps your plants healthy. You can ask your irrigation contractor to help you set up your automatic sprinkler system so that it turns on and off when you want it to.

One way to provide adequate water to your property is to use the cycle-and-soak method.

You set your timer to go off at a specific time for a particular amount of time, and then it shuts off, allowing the water to percolate into the soil. Then, your irrigation system cycles again.

For example, in early spring, you can set your timer to cycle-and-soak, which turns on the water for 15 minutes and then turns it off for 15 minutes.


Cycle-and-soak irrigation allows the water to absorb into the soil, helps control the amount of water emitted from your water sprinklers, and encourages deep root growth for plants. You’ll also notice that you’re paying less on your water bills.

Some municipalities encourage all homeowners to set their water sprinklers to the cycle-and-soak method. However, if you have a sloping yard or clay soil where water can run off into the stormwater drains, you must use the cycle-and-soak method to avoid run-off.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Cycle-and-Soak brochure encourages homeowners to split runtimes for each zone.

You can set your water sprinkler to irrigate one zone for 15 minutes and record the time it takes for the water to pool on the surface. This will tell you how long to run your cycle-and-soak times for the rest of your irrigation zones.

Water sprinklers work great on lawns. However, your trees, shrubs, and flowerbeds are better watered with a drip irrigation kit or tree bubblers.

Drip irrigation delivers water droplets to the plant’s root zone, preventing overspray and runoff. Your plants will be healthier, too, because they’re getting the right amount of water at the right time with no water sitting on leaves.

Tree bubblers work the same as drip irrigation except that water bubbles over and into the root zones of groundcovers, shrubs, and trees.

One more tip: Remember to set your water sprinkler’s timer to water in the very early hours of the morning when it’s the coolest time of day and there’s no breeze.

How to Water Your Lawn After Fertilization and Weed Control Treatments

Whether you’re a DIY enthusiast or hire a professional lawn service to apply fertilizer and weed control treatments, you must know how and when to water each application.

If you use granular applications, you need to water them in right away unless you also have liquid spot treatments, in which case you don’t want to water right away. Set your automatic water sprinkler off for 20 minutes to soak the granules into the soil.

If there’s rain in the forecast, allow Mother Nature to irrigate your granular treatment into the soil.

Summing Up

During the week, your lawn and landscaped areas need deep, infrequent watering, including rain. They only need 1”-1½” of water per week.

Set up your sprinkler’s controller to the days and times you want it to turn on to water your property. Remember, early morning watering is the best time of day. Ensure you have a rain or moisture sensor on your controller that will turn the sprinklers off when it starts to rain.

Consider using the cycle-and-soak method to prevent run-off and overwatering, especially if you have compacted clay soil and any slopes on your property.

Finally, invest in drip irrigation and bubblers to efficiently water your trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and flowerbeds.

Enhance Your Lawn & Landscape with K-Rain Water Sprinklers

K-Rain irrigation products are made to last, which saves you money and time because there’s less maintenance and fewer broken parts. Instead, you can use those added moments to enjoy your property.

Additionally, K-Rain products minimize water waste because of our Water-Smart Technology, which reduces water usage by up to 30% without affecting turfgrass health.

Shop our sprinkler system products now at our online store, or buy K-Rain products at The Home Depot and Lowe's to find everything you need.

If you prefer an irrigation contractor to install your K-Rain irrigation products, we provide a list of premier contractors who are a part of our program.

For assistance with K-Rain irrigation products, contact our customer service team at 800-735-7246 or through our contact form.

Sources:
EPA.gov, Cycle-And-Soak Saves Water Outdoors brochure (pdf).
LandscapeWorkshop.com, The Best Time to Water Grass.
LawnBuddies.com, When Should You Water Your Lawn After Fertilizing and For How Long?
School.SprinklerWarehouse.com, How to Program an Irrigation Controller/Timer.