July Means Dry

Colorado high-country summers are split up into two distinct periods—dry and drier. The majority of our moisture comes in the fall, winter and spring in the form of snow. We do get a weather pattern, usually in July, called monsoonal moisture or monsoon seasons, but it is unreliable and rarely amounts to much. So, we depend heavily on our sprinkler systems to keep our lawn and gardens thriving.

During these hot dry months, when we could go weeks without rainfall, our irrigation gets overworked and under-maintained. As a result our lawns get brown spots and flowers wilt.

During this season sprinkler systems are run more often, and thus have a higher risk for breaks. A little TLC and preventive maintenance can go a long way.

Three sure signs that you could use the help of our irrigation professionals are:

1. When you walk around your lawn and hear a crunch, crunch under your feet

2. When the dandelion becomes your most prevalent flower

3. When your water bill is out of control and you still have the above mentioned problems

While some problems may occur due to bad luck, many can be addressed and prevented with routine maintenance or simple upgrades. Our favorite upgrade is to install a smart irrigation controller.

Typical controllers need to be monitored and adjusted for weather events. This works best with a proactive approach but instead usually happens in a reactive manner. For example, when it rains you may turn off your irrigation, or if it’s hot and dry you turn up the run time on the areas that have noticeable dry spots. But, the water has already been wasted and the plant material is stressed. The solution is to make a simple upgrade to a smart controller. A smart irrigation controller installed by Land Designs by Ellison, uses sensors to read the weather in real time. If the sun shines for an extended amount of time, it automatically increases the watering times to the areas that need it most. When it rains, the controller instantly shuts down the irrigation zones you have programmed, and the same goes with freezing temperatures. The available customization in these controllers make it a must have if you have water features and annual pots that have different water needs that lawn or perennials. This simple upgrade will make your sprinkler system more efficient wasting less water, time, and money.

So when the summer’s dry days hit and you and your sprinkler system can’t keep up, give our irrigation dispatcher, Roberta, a call and she will schedule one of our trained technicians to upgrade your system ASAP.