Your sprinkler system likely hasn’t gotten much action over the winter months. While there are many downsides to winter, the good news is that you don’t often need to worry about maintaining your garden as everything shuts down for a few months!
But now the sun is coming out again, and it’s time to ensure your Omaha sprinklers are prepared and working for the Summer. In this post, we’ll explore the steps you need to take to get your sprinklers ready for the change and how to prepare your Omaha Sprinklers for Summer.
How to Prepare Omaha Sprinklers for Summer?
Omaha Sprinkler Maintenance and Repair
The first thing you need to do is to ensure that everything is working still. You might find that a lot of sprinkler heads get damaged from people walking over them – not to mention lawnmowers and other appliances. For that reason, you should always do a test run for the system prior to getting started. This will show you if the rotor and heads are rotating properly, and you’ll also be able to see if any of the nozzles have been knocked loose.
The good news is that many of these issues can be solved with just a little common sense and the help of an Omaha sprinkler maintenance professional. Where that’s not the case, you might be able to remove a broken part and get it replaced.
Check the Rain Shutoff Device
A rain shutoff device is crucial on an automatic irrigation system, for both the environment AND your lawn. Otherwise, your sprinkler might add to a large amount of water coming from the rain, which can end up waterlogging your garden and even drowning plants and grass. Even if that doesn’t happen, this can represent a serious waste of water which is something no one wants to be responsible for.
The simple solution is to make sure this shutoff system is in place and working properly. This is especially important given that it’s actually the law in some states!
Most systems will use a small cork disk that respond to rain by expanding in the rain. Being cork though, this system can degrade over time which is why you need to check it when you first set it up. You can always replace this though!
Calibrate
You should calibrate the system to provide ½ to ¾ inch during an irrigation event. This is something many people don’t realize and it’s common to actually have no idea how much water is needed for irrigation! Calibrate your system to apply this much water and it will help to promote the healthiest lawn possible.
Too much water can increase disease and insect issues, while too little can stress the plants.
Lay it Out
You might have alternatively taken your sprinkler system and left it in the shed over winter. If this is the case, then you’ll need to set the whole thing up from scratch!
Indeed, you may also be installing the sprinkler system for the first time this summer! In that case, you’ll need to think about the number of sprinklers you need and where the best place to keep them is.
One thing to ask yourself is how many sprinklers you can use per zone: and what the minimum pressure is for your sprinkler heads. Pressure describes the amount and force of the water traveling through the system at any point and at any time. The more water that is packed in, the more pressure will be created by the sprinklers.
The more sprinklers you add to a zone, the more you dilute this pressure and the less area each sprinkler will cover. You need to read the pressure rating of your sprinkler system then (written in PSI) and consider the number of gallons per minute. If your sprinkler system is 3.11 gallons per minute for instance, and your home’s water capacity is rated at 10GPM, this tells you that you can use a total of three heads per zone.
Trust Pioneer Underground’s Omaha sprinkler maintenance professionals to tackle any of your sprinkler systems problems. With years of experience, our irrigation system professionals will have your sprinkler system working as good as new again!
Pioneer Underground Lawn Sprinklers | Omaha’s Best Commercial & Residential Sprinkler Systems
Contact Pioneer Underground Lawn Sprinklers to schedule a free estimate on a system install or to find out what you can do to make your existing system more efficient. We welcome commercial and residential clients. And remember, whether you need our services now… or later in the season, Your Healthy Lawn is Our Passion and we are only a phone call away! Call 402-934-7900 to schedule your service.
