Irrigation systems have tons of advantages. For one thing, you won’t have to spend all summer standing in your yard sprinkling with a garden hose! And you’ll never worry about being too busy or forgetting to water your lawn. Automatic sprinklers can make caring for your Gainesville landscape much easier and more convenient. But when you have problems with your irrigation system, they can be very frustrating. Especially when no one notices the issue until it's too late and your lawn or plants are struggling and/or dead.
The time for these things to be recognized is now, in early spring, before the drought and summer heat waves hit north Florida.
When these problems crop up, you can count on our Gainesville irrigation service professionals to assist you. Don’t hesitate to give us a call. And don’t forget: the best way to be sure your irrigation system is working at its best is to have a professional perform scheduled bi-annual sprinkler inspections, rather than waiting till your lawn is struggling.
Some irrigation problems have simple fixes. First, though, you’ll need to be able to identify the problem. These are some of the common irrigation you’ll encounter:
CLOGGED SPRINKLERS
Dirt and other tiny debris can make their way into your sprinkler heads, and over time this can cause a lot of trouble. Very little to no water will be able to make its way out of your sprinkler to your Gainesville landscape, and if it’s not taken care of, that can be a major problem for your lawn.
But most of the time you can easily unclog your sprinklers yourself. Find the problem heads and identify the sprinklers that are clogged. Then remove the spray nozzle and gently and thoroughly rinse it and its filter until it’s clear. Be prepared to get wet if you do this while the system is running!
OBSTRUCTED SPRINKLERS
If you have shrubbery and perennials in your landscape, it can be difficult to keep track of where all your sprinklers are located. So it’s not uncommon to have some of them accidentally blocked by plants that have grown in front of them. Also, make sure that trash cans, plants, or other objects aren’t blocking the stream of sprinklers. Because your system usually runs early in the morning, you can easily not realize that your heads are being blocked causing insufficient coverage and worse, even water damage to your home! So to get the best performance from your irrigation, make sure to check your sprinklers several times a year.
MISSING NOZZLES
Nozzles can come loose over time, or you may accidentally tear them off during yard work. Nozzles control the amount of water that the sprinkler releases and helps to pressurize the water to make the sprinklers more effective. So when a nozzle is missing, large quantities of water will pour out of the sprinkler, which will also affect the rest of your irrigation system and your GRU bill in a negative way.
The area around the sprinkler with a missing nozzle will be extremely wet, so it’s not hard to spot. But all this moisture is bad for your Gainesville lawn and can lead to the growth weeds and fungus. You’ll often be able to find a replacement nozzle at your local hardware store. If you can’t, feel free to give us a call for assistance.
DESIGN PROBLEMS
Your landscape will change over time, either through your intervention or because of tree and plant growth. Any time you make any changes to your landscaping, you’ll want to be sure you inspect your irrigation system. Depending on the changes, you may need to change where heads are located because certain plants need more/less water than others.
If we can help resolve issues with your irrigation system, don't hesitate to schedule a service call with one of our trained and licensed professionals! Call (352) 378-5296 today or fill out the contact us form at the top of the page!