Take The Guesswork Out Of Watering Your Lawn

Proper irrigation is one of the main ingredients needed for a lush and healthy lawn. And installing an inground sprinkler system will help conserve time, water and money.

Proper irrigation is about efficiency, but we believe you should raise your expectations and aim for irrigation that's smart too! Your lawn and gardens need the right amount of water for your soil and plant types (taking sun and shade into consideration), delivered at the right time (not during a thunderstorm). As a homeowner, you want to avoid wasting water, time, and energy.

The inground sprinkler system experts at Nutri-Lawn Irrigation Burlington can deliver all that and much more! Here are some helpful tips to take the guesswork out of watering your lawn.

How Much Is The Right Amount Of Water?

Several factors play into making this decision: how well the soil holds water, how much moisture is currently present, how well your lawn drains, and how much moisture your type of grass needs.

The amount of water your soil can hold will play the biggest role as it will determine how much moisture is retained or drained away. Enough water should be applied to thoroughly soak the roots of the grass, but not so much there is runoff. But there's runoff all the time during the thunder storm. Sure - but you're not paying for that water!

How quickly your lawn drains is important to know. Sandy soil will drain much faster and may need more water to keep your lawn green in a hot spell. Clay-based soil really holds onto moisture, but then it turns rock-hard. Loamy soil is the best kind of soil as it retains water well but doesn't hold on to it. If your yard has been landscaped or professionally installed, likely the soil is loamy or has been amended to be loamy (at least the top layer).

Some soils drain so poorly that overwatering can be a real danger. Overwatering can lead to problems with mold, moss, root rot, and disease. It's important to know the soil characteristics and current moisture content when watering your lawn which means you're guessing.

We can help you be more efficient!

Irrigation Delivers Water At The Right Time

The time of day when a lawn is watered is important. Early morning waterings are best so the water has a chance to evaporate instead of leaving plants wet (and susceptible to disease or fungus) all night.

The goal should be infrequent deep waterings as opposed to frequent shallow waterings. Often your soil determines the time in between waterings (as well as plant preferences). A good rule is to water as the lawn begins to wilt to encourage the roots to dig deeper for water leading to a healthier and more resilient lawn.

Irrigation Cuts Down On Wasted Water

You don't want water to pool on top of the soil. It's inefficient and on hot days you'll lose a lot of moisture to evaporation. Inground sprinklers do the best job of delivering water as a lawn can absorb it be provide even distribution across the entire lawn. A concentrated flow of water will not provide even distribution, and will usually cause pooling.

Your Inground Irrigation System Does More Than Deliver Water

The newest models are very smart and can take a lot of guess work out of watering your lawn and gardens. Many come equipped with smart moisture and weather sensors, timers you can adjust with your phone, and even deliver timed fertilizer.

Fertilizer That's Always Properly Diluted!

Sometimes you can do all of the right things - but if your lawn is lacking important nutrients it just won't perform as well as it could. Your lawn would likely benefit from a fertilizer.

Fertilization is an important step that helps your lawn to develop strong roots which leads to a thick and healthy lawn. It may be a bit counterintuitive, but a lawn that is growing well needs even more fertilization since it is using up more nutrients from the soil. Most often fertilization is applied in granular form with a fertilization spreader, this is effective if applied correctly and sufficiently diluted, but can be time consuming and labour intensive if you have a larger lawn.

A smarter option is to use your inground irrigation system to deliver the nutrients your lawn needs.

Why Fertigation Is The Better Way To Take Care Of Your Lawn

Fertigation is the application of water-soluble fertilizer using an inground irrigation system. Delivered as a liquid, the nutrients are more quickly absorbed by the plants and there is less risk of burning plants or killing sections of your lawn by applying too much dry fertilizer in one location. There is also less risk of harm to pets and children as the liquid fertilizer is quickly absorbed into the surrounding soil which prevents surface exposure.

If there is insufficient water, dry fertilizer can actually do more harm than good to the lawn by burning it and leaving it at risk to disease. Fertigation is applied in the normal watering cycle and does not require additional water.

When Is The Best Time To Buy Or Upgrade Your Irrigation System

If you've just bought your home or recently moved, this can be a great transition time to think about adding an inground irrigation system. Renovations and garden updates are often high priorities after a move, as well as fitting into a new neighbourhood.

If you've been in the same place for a while, maybe this is the year you'll stop hauling portable sprinklers around your yard or using the leaky, inefficient, or just not smart irrigation system you already have.

Maybe you're investing in new sod, expanding the lawn, or installing new or updating your gardens. If everything is going to be torn up anyways, this is a great time to add an inground irrigation system and have it all done at the same time.

We've put together some helpful tips to get you started!

Plan For Success

There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to irrigation. It is always easier to have an in-ground sprinkler system installed when major landscaping changes are made.

Is your property mostly shaded or mostly sunny? Is there a mix of both? Shady areas typically need less additional water than full-sun areas. What kind of soil do you have? Maybe you've added top soil to the area where you put down new sod, but the older parts of the lawn are still clay - that's OK. This variation can be accommodated so each part of your lawn gets the additional water it requires without leaving one area parched or another flooded.

By creating zones, all controlled digitally, each part of your lawn and yard can receive the appropriate level of moisture it needs to thrive. These smart inground irrigation systems remove the worry and guessing and put real data to work for you!

Some of the features you can take advantage of are customized timers, moisture and weather sensors, rain gauges and more.

Get The Job Done Right The First Time

Our inground sprinkler system experts have extensive experience in every type of irrigation project. We know sprinkler systems and we can help you design a system that will work with your unique lawn and landscaping needs. Contact our team at Nutri-Lawn Burlington Irrigation to help you realize your dreams for a fabulous property with a new smart in-ground sprinkler system so you can set it and forget it - and instead concentrate on enjoying your yard to its fullest!