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Author: Blackwell Digital
The Benefits of Wi-Fi Hydrawise Controllers
Making sure your lawn stays healthy takes a lot of work, especially maintaining your watering schedule. There are some days you’ll do anything to make that process easier.
Traditional sprinkler systems definitely help keep the grass alive and lush, but they can waste too much water and take up a lot of your time.
Not only is that bad for the environment as a whole, it’s hard on the wallet too. You obviously don’t want to give up your luscious lawn, so what’s an easy way to save water and money?
A Wi-Fi-controlled irrigation system. Welcome to the future.
Why You Should Choose LED Lights
No one likes pulling into the driveway and seeing a dark house. It isn’t welcoming or homey, and who knows what could be lurking in shadows. When you’re away for days at a time, if your house is dark, it is at risk. Gain peace of mind while you’re away and a welcoming home when you return with a customized lighting system.
Brighten up your home and keep it safe with a custom LED lighting system from Pro Outdoor.
Why LED Lights Are the Best Choice
Energy efficiency
You might be worried about over-the-top energy costs when installing a new lighting system, but an LED-based lighting system will provide energy efficiency at a lower energy cost than other lighting systems. LED lights use about 50% less electricity than incandescent, fluorescent, and halogen lights.
Your outdoor lights will be on for extended periods, so the energy cost savings from LED lights will be kind to your wallet.
Extended life
LEDs don’t “burn out” or fail – instead, they dim over time. If you had incandescent lights, you’d have to replace the bulbs more frequently or risk a bulb outage when you need the lights on most.
Quality LED lights have an expected lifespan of 30,000-50,000 hours depending on the quality of the light. Comparatively, incandescent bulbs only last about 1,000 hours and compact fluorescent lights last 8,000 to 10,000 hours.
The extended light of LEDs reduces labor costs of replacing bulbs in commercial locations and makes it easier on homeowners too.
Work in cold temperatures
Unlike fluorescent lamps that require high voltage at lower temperatures, LED performances increases as temperatures drop. That makes LEDs a perfect fit for outdoor lighting systems in cold areas.
When the sun goes down earlier in the winter, you rely on your outdoor lights even more, and you don’t want to worry about them in a cold snap.
Instant On
Most fluorescent lamps don’t provide full brightness the instant they’re turned on, and they might need a few minutes to reach maximum light. LEDs come on at 100% brightness almost instantly. This is especially helpful for motion sensor lights and following a power outage.
Make Your Home a Bright and Safe Sanctuary with a LED Lighting System
With a solid selection of transformers, fixtures, finishes, and filters, our home lighting system designers can surround your home with light that will improve overall appearance, security, and home value.
Contact Pro Outdoor today and ask about LED lighting system installation.
How to Keep Your Lawn Healthy in Winter
Your lawn doesn’t require as much care in the winter as it does the rest of the year, but you don’t want to ignore it completely.
Winter can be unpredictable, especially in the Midwest, and may put your lawn through some extreme conditions. The best thing you can do for your lawn is to take care of the grass now and “put it to bed” before winter officially sets in.
If you take steps in the fall to keep your lawn healthy over winter, you won’t be kicking yourself when spring rolls around, and your lawn isn’t as green or luscious as the previous spring.
Take the following steps this winter to ensure the health of your lawn come springtime:
Aerate and Fertilize Your Lawn
Aerating your lawn gives it a chance to breathe before it goes dormant and helps relieve any compaction that built up during summer.
Once your lawn is aerated and breathing, it’s a good time to fertilize. Your grass will get the essential nutrients it needs to prepare for winter.
The grass roots absorb and store the nutrients during winter and then, in the spring, the grass roots tap into those nutrients to give it a head start, making it green and lush.
Taking care of your lawn now means your lawn won’t be ragged and run-down in spring.
Keep It Clean
It’s likely that leaves piled up on your lawn during fall, and that could lead to your lawn suffocating before winter.
Leaves left on your lawn could get too wet and invite disease. If the layer of leaves is too thick, wet, or matted down, you’ll want to rake them up and remove them. If they aren’t too thick or wet, mulch the leaves with your mower to recycle the nutrients back into your lawn.
Avoid Traffic on the Lawn
When the lawn has a layer of frost or its laying dormant, try to avoid walking on it too much. Even the strongest grass can become weak if the same path is walked over too many times.
Prepare Now
Have your winter lawn care plan in place well ahead of time. Once there’s a chilly breeze in the air, keep an eye on the forecast, so you leave yourself enough time to put your plan into action before the first frost arrives.
Call the experienced team at Pro Outdoor today to ensure your lawn remains healthy all winter. They can help with aerating and overseeding your lawn for fall and winter. Your lawn is an investment, so you should get help from the best.
How to Adjust Your Sprinkler System for Fall
During fall, adjusting your sprinkler system should be part of your regular outdoor maintenance. Early fall looks a lot like summer – especially in the St. Louis area – so your lawn will still need to be watered at the same rate as summer.
As fall progresses, though, you’ll find that your lawn doesn’t need as much water, and you need to adjust your sprinkler system to meet the decreased needs of your yard.
As a general rule, your lawn needs an average of two inches of water per week during a hot, dry summer and a ½ inch per week during fall.
If you need help determining the exact amount of water your lawn needs, contact the Pro Outdoor team. We’ll help you get your sprinkler system adjusted for fall and ensure your lawn stays healthy.
When to Stop Watering Your Lawn
When the temperatures begin to drop and the days are shorter, your grass growth slows down. With less heat and sunshine to evaporate the water, your lawn needs less to drink, but that doesn’t mean you suddenly stop watering altogether.
Conditions tend to vary, especially in the Midwest, but you can follow these general rules for when to stop watering your plants in fall weather:
- Continue to provide supplemental moisture as needed until the ground freezes
- If you receive one inch or more of precipitation per week, you don’t need to water
- During times when the weather is warm and dry, water a few times a week
- If you have a new lawn or one that has been overseeded, you need to maintain regular watering practices for root establishment and growth promotion.
Adjusting your watering schedule in the fall will give your wallet a break and prepare your lawn for the upcoming winter months.
Install a Rain Sensor
Some areas might see an increase in rainfall as autumn rolls in, which means your lawn and plants will need less water from your sprinkler system. You don’t want to overwater your lawn, so installing a rain sensor might be the way to go.
Some areas might see an increase in rainfall as autumn rolls in, which means your lawn and plants will need less water from your sprinkler system. You don’t want to overwater your lawn, so installing a rain sensor might be the way to go.
The rain sensor will shut off a scheduled watering session if the grass already has enough water, and you don’t have to worry about over-saturating your lawn.
Prepare for winterization
At the end of fall, you’ll need to winterize your system. Sprinkler winterization is turning off the system and removing all of the water, which is why you want to get it done before a freeze. You don’t want to damage your system because water froze in the pipes over the winter.
Sprinkler winterization usually takes place from September through November. Your lawn doesn’t need as much or any water from your sprinkler system, so it’s the perfect time to schedule a sprinkler winterization appointment with Pro Outdoor.
Your sprinkler system is an investment, so you should treat it like one. Leave it to the professionals to winterize your sprinkler system. They’ll get it done right, and you can rest easy knowing your system will perform optimally when spring rolls back around.
Schedule a sprinkler fall winterization service appointment with one of our expert technicians today and have one less thing to worry about come spring.
Why Aerate Your Lawn?
You know when you see small cylinders of soil on someone’s lawn and you think, “huh, what’s that about?”
That person had their lawn aerated. They were taking care of their lawn and achieving a thicker, healthier lawn.
Regular lawn maintenance goes a long way in creating a thicker, healthier lawn. Even tasks that you only need to do once a year can play a significant role in maintaining your lawn’s health and appearance.
For many homeowners, aerating their lawn is a regular task they do annually. But why do they do it?
Why aerate your lawn
First of all, aeration involves perforating the soil with small holes so that air, water, and nutrients can penetrate down to the grass roots. This helps the roots grow deeply so your lawn is stronger.
Lawn aeration also relieves soil compaction and enhances grass growth. Compacted soil inhibits the flow of the air and nutrients that will make a significant difference in the health and beauty of your lawn.
Benefits of aeration
Aerating your lawn can help make it healthier and reduce your maintenance requirements because of these benefits:
- Improved air exchange between the soil and atmosphere
- Reduced water runoff and puddling
- Stronger roots
- Reduced soil compaction
- Enhanced heat and drought stress tolerance
- Thatch breakdown
- Improved resiliency and cushioning
When lawns need aeration
The best time to aerate your lawn is during the growing season so that the grass can fill in any open areas after soil plugs are removed. Ideally, you’d aerate your lawn in the early spring or fall.
It may not seem like your lawn is compacted or that it has enough traffic for it to become so, but it happens easier than you may think. Vehicles or small equipment driven on the lawn are obvious offenders, but a lot of playing in the yard or hosting parties can leave your lawn compacted.
If your grass looks stressed and the soil is hard to the touch, or rainwater puddles up where it used to be absorbed, you probably have a compaction problem.
What do I do after aerating my lawn?
After your lawn has been aerated, let the soil plugs dry where they fall. They’ll break down during the next rainfall or crumble when you mow next. They add beneficial soil and organic matter to your lawn surface.
Right after aeration is the perfect time to overseed and fertilize your lawn. Seeds and nutrients will have direct contact with the soil through the openings created during aeration, giving roots the direct and fresh pathways they need to grow.
Aerate Your Lawn with the Team You Trust
Get a jump start on a greener lawn with Pro Outdoor. With our irrigation expertise along with aeration services, there will be increased success in achieving a healthier lawn.
Give the Pro Outdoor team a call today and get started on the aeration process.
Guide to Overseeding
Overseeding sounds like a bad thing, right? Something you want to avoid doing to your lawn?
Actually, overseeding is a way to fill in bare spots, improve the density of your lawn, and enhance your lawn’s color. It’s the secret to achieving the beautiful lawn you’ve been wanting.
Maybe you’ve been eyeing the neighbor’s luscious lawn and wondering just how they managed that. It was probably overseeding.
If your lawn looks old, if it needs an increasing amount of water and fertilizer, or if it’s disease and insect prone, it’s the perfect candidate for overseeding.
The Benefits of Overseeding
Overseeding with a newer turfgrass variety can help your older lawn withstand insects, disease, drought, shady conditions, and heavy traffic. The investment in overseeding pays off by reducing the overall amount of fertilizer, water, and pesticides needed throughout the year.
Plus, a renovated, overseeded lawn stays greener longer and looks thicker and healthier.
When is the Best Time to Overseed?
Late summer or early fall is the best time to overseed your lawn. Soil and atmospheric temperatures are most favorable for optimum seed germination and growth at that time of year.
With adequate moisture, fertilizer, and sunlight, your new seedlings will be established before cooler fall weather sets in. Also, weeds are less of a factor during late summer and early fall, which gives your grass seedlings a better environment to develop and flourish.
Overseeding Aftercare
Depending on the conditions of your lawn and the type of seed, new grass seed will usually start to emerge in about a week after seeding. An overseeded lawn can be fully established in about eight weeks.
Proper watering is critical to make your overseeding efforts a success:
- Immediately after overseeding, water heavily to wash grass seeds into slits.
- For the first 10-14 days – or until the grass seeds germinate – water lightly on a daily basis, soaking the first inch of soil.
- After germination, water less frequently, but allow for deeper soaking and penetration into the soil. This will encourage deeper root growth.
- After your grass is established, water at the recommended level for the type of grass planted.
The key is patience. Proper overseeding will produce a healthier, more luscious-looking lawn that will respond better to mowing, fertilization, and water. But it does take some time, patience, and dedication to make your lawn look healthy.
Get the Healthy Lawn You Want with the Team You Trust
You’ll see the difference in everything we do – from understanding every challenge as you see it, to leaving no questions unanswered about how we can help your lawn stay green and healthy.
We are Pro Outdoor. And if you believe like us that quality, service, and value still matter, then you’re ready to grow with us.
Contact Us and start the journey to a healthier lawn.
How Do Rain Sensors Work?
Have you ever looked out the window and mentally kicked yourself because you didn’t think to check the weather before you left home? And now it’s raining and your sprinklers are scheduled to turn on right about…now?
A rain sensor would save you the mental anguish and money from not running your sprinklers during a thunderstorm. You’ll conserve water while still maintaining your lawn if you let a rain sensor manage your sprinklers.
If you’re one of those people who needs to know how something works before you install it, this post is for you, because we’re discussing how rain sensors work.
First, what is a rain sensor?
As you might have guessed, it senses rain.
It’s a device that communicates with your sprinkler timer about the level of rainfall. If enough rain has fallen, then the sensors let the timer know to skip the next cycle and not run.
It’s a convenient piece of technology. If you’re out of town or just unaware of the weather forecast, the rain sensor will make sure your lawn isn’t overwatered.
Types of Rain Sensors and How They Work
When you live in the Midwest, you get used to rapid changes in the weather. You know the saying, “if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”
That’s fine if you’re just taking off an outer layer because you’re too warm or keeping a spare umbrella in your car. But when you’re a sprinkler system, you need more help knowing when the weather isn’t good for you to turn on.
Depending on the type of yard you have, where you live, and how often it rains, you might choose a different type of rain sensor.
Rainfall collection cup
This rain sensor stops the sprinkler from turning on when the rainfall cup fills to a certain level. A possible issue that could arise is a false fill signal. Leaves, debris, and even bugs can fill up the collection cup, causing the sprinklers to shut off.
Expansion disk
Expansion disk rain sensors operate via a gauge attached to the sprinkler system. Disks inside the gauge absorb water and expand as more rain falls. That sends a message to the sprinkler system controller and interrupts the signal that turns on the sprinkler. The signal is blocked until the disks shrink back to their original, dry size. Then the sprinkler controller receives the start signal once more and resumes its regular schedule.
Benefits of a Rain Sensor
No matter the type of rain sensor you choose, all rain sensors offer many advantages over not having one attached to your automatic sprinkler system. Some of the benefits, both immediate and long-term, include:
- Saving money
Whether you pay for city water or spend electricity running a pump, the money you save over time will more than pay for the rain sensor. - Extending sprinkler system life span
Every irrigation system is a lot of moving parts. If the parts are utilized less frequently, like during the rainy season, they will last longer. - Conserving water
Less water is wasted when less supplemental water is needed to hydrate your lawn or garden.
Save Water with Pro Outdoor
Nowhere else will our residential or commercial customers find the 5-Star Experience – delivering value the way you see it, dependability, innovation, and a culture of growth that fuels our service commitment and your lawn’s ongoing success.
Let the pros at Pro Outdoor show you how installing the best sprinkler system will have your lawn looking beautiful in no time. Contact us today for a consultation.
Different Types of Irrigation Systems Explained
We’ve made it our business to be experts in irrigation systems, but we understand that not everyone knows the difference between the different types of irrigation systems.
There are many different ways to supply water to a large body of plants. Water is provided in different volumes and reaching different areas, which can affect plant growth. Some systems are better for certain plants than others, which is why we’re discussing irrigation system differences and the advantages and disadvantages for each system.
Drip Irrigation
Drip irrigation is one of the most popular types of irrigation systems. Simply put, drip irrigation is the process of lacing your garden area with irrigation lines that feed directly into the root systems of your plants, “dripping” water into them gradually.
The roots have the direst need for hydration, so a drip irrigation system essentially cuts out the middleman and supplies water directly to the roots.
Advantages of Drip Irrigation
- Reduces weed growth
A drip irrigation system is placed explicitly through the plants that you want to water, so it’s tough for the water to stray away from its intended target. As a result, rogue weeds in your garden won’t benefit from the water, ultimately reducing the overall number of weeds. - Efficient water usage
Drip irrigation is by far the most efficient irrigation system regarding water usage. It typically uses less water, and the water it does use is less prone to evaporate.
Disadvantages of Drip Irrigation
- Requires precise installation
Drip irrigation is only useful if it’s been installed correctly, which takes expert precision and experience. An improperly installed drip system could cause drought conditions, which causes your plants to grow shallow instead of deep. Make sure you have professional help when you’re setting up the drip irrigation system. - Requires maintenance
A drip irrigation system sometimes requires more maintenance than another type of irrigation system. The drip irrigation equipment is vulnerable to debris, mineral buildup, and damage from outside forces like lawnmowers.
Sprinkler Irrigation
Sprinkler irrigation is more or less the opposite of drip irrigation. Instead of applying hydration directly to the roots, the water is supplied overhead by the sprinklers.
While drip irrigation is more up close and personal irrigation, sprinkler irrigation allows you to hydrate a larger area of land like an athletic field.
Advantages of Sprinkler Irrigation
- Able to cover large areas
Sprinkler irrigation is probably the most cost-effective way to cover a broad swath of land, like a farm with acres and acres of plants to water. - Can be used anywhere
Sprinkler irrigation is versatile. Drip irrigation is difficult to maintain over a large space, while surface irrigation relies on the slope of the land to work properly. Sprinklers can be used just about anywhere.
Disadvantages of Sprinkler Irrigation
- Expensive upfront cost
When it comes to the initial installation, sprinkler irrigation systems can be the most expensive. The general cost goes down once it’s up and running, but the upfront cost could be hefty. - Susceptible to wind
The biggest drawback for sprinkler irrigation is that wind can scatter the spray, resulting in inconsistent watering. This could be a minor inconvenience occasionally, but it can become a serious problem if you live in an excessively windy area.
Surface Irrigation
Drip irrigation waters the root of the plant, sprinkler irrigation waters from above, and surface irrigation is somewhere in the middle.
There are different forms of surface irrigation, but they all take advantage of gravity and the shape of the land to “flood” the soil. Put more simply, water is poured onto the ground, and the land allows it to distribute itself across the soil naturally.
Advantages of Surface Irrigation
- Easiest and most affordable
Surface irrigation is an ancient irrigation technique that has been refined by modern technology. It doesn’t necessarily require sophisticated technology to work, and if you want something with a lot of variety, surface irrigation is for you. - Best utilization of rainwater
You’ve probably shaped your property in such a way where natural water flows reliably to irrigate your plants. For that reason, areas where surface irrigation is used are very effective at utilizing rainwater.
Disadvantages of Surface Irrigation
- Dependent on terrain
For surface irrigation to work correctly, you have to make the terrain accommodate it, whether it’s by creating channels for the water or relying on the natural slope to let gravity do its thing. Unexpected changes or disturbances in your land could affect the effectiveness of surface irrigation. - Waterlogging risk
Surface irrigation could channel too much water into your crops, which can drown the roots and be counterproductive. You need to take care to ensure your surface irrigation system doesn’t overhydrate your plants.
Get the Best Irrigation System for Your Needs
Regardless of what type of irrigation system you choose for your property, one thing you’ll need to have is the right team to install the equipment. Pro Outdoor is already St. Louis’ and Saint Charles’ irrigation system leader for residential and commercial clients.
We only use the best parts and hire and train professionals who can live up to our name. We believe that quality, service, and value still matter, and we are proud to bring our customers a 5-star experience with every project. Contact us today for a consultation.
3 Benefits of Hiring a Professional Irrigation Company
So many people think that they can DIY anything these days.
You know the type: they think all they need are YouTube tutorials and grit to get anything done.
Unfortunately, as helpful as YouTube tutorials can be for some tasks and hobbies, there are some projects best left to the professionals.
Installing and maintaining an irrigation system, for example.
Before you head to the home improvement store looking for tools and supplies, there are some benefits to hiring a professional irrigation company that you should consider.
Knowledge and Expertise
Whether you’re installing a new system or trying to fix an older one, there are a lot of things to know before you just start tearing it apart to find the problem.
A sprinkler system isn’t just a hose and some sprinkler heads glued together. There are electronic components, valves interacting with pipes and sprinkler heads, and a backflow preventer. Among other things, you need to worry about the water pressure, voltage requirements, and the water hammer.
Unless you’re a technician for an irrigation company, chances are, you don’t know anything about those things except for the fact that they somehow work together to water your lawn.
It wouldn’t be safe for you to poke around the sprinkler system unless you know exactly what you’re doing. There’s a chance you could damage it further, resulting in more expensive repairs.
Peace of Mind
When you go to sleep tonight, would you prefer to fall asleep knowing that a professional is the one who repaired your sprinkler system or that you’re the one who Macgyvered it into functioning somehow?
You’ll rest easier knowing a professional technician did it, won’t you? That’s one of the best reasons to hire a professional irrigation company rather than trying your hand at haphazard DIY.
Don’t underestimate the value of peace of mind when it comes to your sprinkler system. You’ll know for sure that your system was repaired or installed correctly with the right parts and technique.
High-Quality Customer Service
If you still think that you want to go ahead and fix your sprinkler system yourself, you’re leaving out perhaps the most important benefit of hiring a professional irrigation company.
Customer service. A company that prides itself on serving its customers well is going to make the repair process so much easier for you.
Instead of getting tired and frustrated attempting to fix it yourself, an experienced technician will come out and do it for you. They’re on your side, can help answer questions, and address any other repair or maintenance issues you may have.
Plus, they can help you with winterizing your system and the spring activation, both of which are crucial to ensuring your system doesn’t need costly repairs later.
The Name Says It All: Pro Outdoor
We’re already St. Louis’ and Saint Charles’ irrigation company leader for residential and commercial customers. And we’re expanding rapidly throughout the Midwest for one simple reason: we only use the best parts and only hire technicians who can live up to our name.
You’ll see the difference in everything we do – from understanding every challenge as you see it – to leaving no questions unanswered about how we can help your lawn stay green and healthy.