Author: Blackwell Digital

Uh-oh! You forgot to get your irrigation system winterized!

You wake up one morning and you just know it. The chill of the hardwood floors on your feet, the patterns etched in frost on your windows, and the slight rattle of glass as the wind shakes the house.

Winter has arrived.

Too late, you run out of the house and into your yard, holding your bathrobe shut with one hand while keeping your balance as you skid barefoot out the patio door. The pain on your face is matched only by the destruction of your investment.

Your pipes have burst. It would have been so easy, but now you’re stuck with a frozen wasteland in what used to be your beautiful yard.

But fear not…we offer you:

The Top 8 things to Do in Your Newly Iced Yard!

 

1. Ice Skating
   Once the standing water has frozen over the top of your grass, take the family out on your makeshift rink. The concessions are free, but watch out…there’s probably no rail.
   
2. Build an Igloo
   What’s more fun than camping in the backyard? Camping in your own traditionally-crafted igloo! Keep an eye open for polar bears. They’re fierce.
   
3. Go Ice Fishing
   It’s going to be a long weekend anyway. Don’t dwell on the downsides. Build yourself an ice-fishing hut, and see if you can catch any confused fish that happened to make it inland to your yard!
4. Ice Carving
   Why not put all of
   that ice to use? Ice sculptures are great for parties, receptions, and showers…and if you get really good, you could even enter a competition!
   
5. Build a Volleyball Court
   Now, this might be a pretty localized section of the public, but perhaps you have an excess of sand? What if we told you you could melt your ice today and prepare for some great times in the summer? Measure it out, spread that sand, and in a few months, put up a net. You’ll be reenacting your favorite Top Gun scene in no time.
   
6. Curling
   More of a winter sport aficionado? Grab a broom and a turkey, and teach your family how to curl! 1.5 Million people in 34 countries can’t be wrong!
   
7. Bobsled/Luge/Skeleton
   Perhaps you want something faster…more dangerous? Perhaps your property is on a hill? Then you’ll love building a bobsled track. Your ice-coated lawn won’t know what hit it as you barrel around corners at dangerous velocity. Luge and Skeleton are also very dangerous, but the danger increases the exhilaration!
   
8. Build a Fortress of Solitude
   None of those things are appealing. You’re upset about your lawn, but you’re also exhausted after a day of saving the citizens of your world…again. Well, there’s one bright side. Until earth’s yellow sun melts the ice off of your destroyed property, you might consider one-upping the igloo idea, and building yourself a Fortress of Solitude. It’s everything a brooding hero needs to recharge for the work ahead.
   

 

But wait!

Maybe it hasn’t happened. Perhaps there’s still time.

If you’re not yet forced into one of the delightful activities listed above, you can act now and avoid the trouble!

If you’d rather spend your days sipping hot cocoa fireside than dreading the reconstruction of your landscaping in the spring, be sure to set your appointment today.

Otherwise, enjoy the volleyball court!

One of the most important things you can do for your lawn in the winter (besides one last fertilization in the late fall) is keeping it clear of debris throughout the season. Keep logs, toys, and any kind of equipment off your lawn, because once snow comes these items can damage the turf, and leave your lawn vulnerable to diseases.

As mentioned in a previous post, a grass’ root system does a lot of growing during the winter months, when the grass blades go dormant. If you feel inclined to mow your lawn in the winter months when there is no snowfall, adjust the height of your mower to a higher setting. A grass’ root system only grows as deep as the grass blades are tall. Keeping your grass longer will mean the roots will grow deeper into the ground, which will mean a healthier lawn in the Spring!

Also, keeping traffic (traffic of the foot kind, though car traffic shouldn’t be on a lawn anyway) off your lawn when its frosted or iced over. Since the grass on your lawn is stiffened and doesn’t have the flexibility of grass in the warm seasons, stepping on it and bending it could cause damage, and depending on the type of grass, the damage could be permanent.

November is prime time for applying fertilizer to your lawn in preparation for Spring. Having fertilizer down during the winter months will promote your grass’ root development without excessive top growth. While the ground might be frozen, and your yard brown, there are still lots of things happening under the surface. Helping to grow this grass root system during the winter will help to keep your lawn healthy during the months of extreme heat.

November is also a great time to even out your lawn. This is the time you should be getting rid of any low lying areas, which will help prevent water settling in these areas. To do this you’ll need a shovel, and you want to use the shovel to remove some of the area around the low spot. The shovel should go about 2 inches into the ground, and this will assure you will bring up the grass as well as the grass roots. You will then want to fill in this area with new topsoil mixed with some of the soil you dug up with grass. You want to keep this area well watered for the next few weeks, until the grass begins to develop a root system in the area.

Fall is the best time to prepare your lawn for the next Spring, and though you’ve probably lost your excitement for yard work by this time of year, fear not! The fall planting season is the best time of year! Now is when you get to explore, and impact how your lawn will look in the Spring.

Not only can you do more to prepare the grass for Spring, you can plant flower bulbs. The bulbs will be in the ground through the winter, and will be ready to grow once the winter months come to an end. During the winter the grass will be focusing on rooting into the ground, which allows you to focus more on the density of the grass to help give you a fuller lawn for you to enjoy later.

Raking the leaves on your yard is an important thing to do in the fall. While the accumulation of dead leaves on your lawn can matte down your grass, the freezing and thawing during the fall and winter can cause leaves and dead plants to release soluble forms of phosphates and nitrates. These chemicals can end up in surface water. So when raking your yard, be sure to keep these dead leaves and plants off sidewalks and driveways as well.

If raking isn’t something you’re keen on doing, making a few passes over your leaf-covered lawn with the lawn mower can help to turn these dead leaves and plants into a mulch, which can be used during the winter months around rose bushes and other plants you use to landscape your yard. Chopping up the leaves on your lawn also means if some is left behind, it can’t collect water, and it still provides your yard with much needed nutrients.

As Summer rolls into the dog-days, the Team here at Pro-Irrigation wanted to help you with some tips on using water management in maintaining a healthy lawn and garden.

• Make your soil moisture friendly. Add compost to your soil and provide nutrients and retain water for healthy roots.
• Cover it up. You can retain even more water (and fight weeds) by mulching your soil. Around trees and shrubbery, you’ll want to use a wood-type mulch, and more compost as mulch for your flowering areas. Your plants will thank you (and your weeds will hate you).
• Pick the least thirsty plants. When possible, choose plants that use less water. The folks at your local nursery or your landscape designer can help you select plants that, once established, will be able to thrive during the drier summer months with a minimum of effort and water.
• Group plants together. Again, use your landscape designer or the nursery staff to help you decide which plants to group together. When plants with similar hydration needs are growing side by side, your irrigation system doesn’t need to work as hard to decide where to put the water, and when. Your plants will be healthier as they are all receiving just the right amount of water.
• Keep your lawn fluffy. Aerate periodically to avoid soil compaction. Compaction keeps the water from penetrating your soil and getting to the roots.
• Mow higher. Raise your mower blades up to 1-2”. Mow regularly, and use a mulcher blade, which leave a nutrient-rich layer of free fertilizer (and keeps you from needing to bag the clippings).
• Tune up your irrigation system. Eliminate waste and maximize efficiency by having your Pro Outdoor team come out for regular maintenance. With our summer specials, we’re making it easier than ever!

Contact us today to get started.

Your irrigation system works hard. It’s out there every day, making sure that your lawn, garden, and landscaping are getting just the right amount of water to just the right places. The structural and functional fortitude of your system is matched only by the precision and intricacy shown in how, when, and where it works.

Unfortunately, the very nature of your irrigation system means that it’s bound to get taken for granted. when something does its job so well and so reliably that you never have to think about it, small systemic flaws can start cropping up. Since the flaws start off at such a small scale, they’re not likely to be noticed until they have become big problems.

That’s why scheduling regular tune-ups is so important. In order to keep your investment (both above and below-ground) looking and performing at its best, some preventive and reparative maintenance is needed.

From aligning and maintaining sprinkler heads (maybe dinged by lawn-mowing and weed-whacking?) to replacing faulty valves and removing water-blocking root coverage, the Pro Outdoor Team is ready to keep your system in tip-top condition, so that you can continue not worrying about it.

Now is the perfect time to jump in on a maintenance plan for your irrigation system. Pro Outdoor is offering great deals to help you save money while you…save money!