Like your body, your lawn requires regular water to stay healthy. It’s that simple, really - but there are a few important best practices to know before just running your Gainesville, Florida sprinklers.

1. WHAT IS THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF IRRIGATION?

Your lawn loves about an inch of water each week, on average. Some full sun areas require more and deep shaded areas need less, but 1" is about average. In many areas of the U.S., rainfall is plenty, but in Florida's drastic heat and weather changes - we go from needing are sprinklers to run more to needing an improved drainage system to manage all of the rainwater in the span of months.

Typically, spring is a Gainesville Irrigation system's prime time due to high heat and low rainfall. That whole "April showers brings May flowers..." is not typically a good description for Gainesville lawns. Summer's rainfall typically are enough to keep an established lawn healthy without too much additional work by the irrigation system - but this does go in spurts based on our unique weather patterns.

We recommend irrigationg with these rough guidelines:

• 10-25 minutes on fixed spray head zones (that do not rotate)
• 35-85 minutes on rotating head (rotor) zones
• 60-90 minutes on drip tube zones
• 1x per week in winter starting around 6-8am
• 2x per week in the growing season starting around 3-5am
• Use the seasonal adjust function to increase in dry spells and decrease in rainy seasons
• Verify your weather sensor is functioning correctly 2x per year to shut off during rain or frost (or verify WiFi connection for internet weather control if using Hunter's Hydrawise system)

This is the biggest reason client's lawns struggle - improper watering. Homeowners overwater their lawns in winter (causing lawn diseases and inviting webworm damage) and then underwater in spring (causing drought stress and chinch bug damage) because they use a "set it and forget it" mentality.

2. DON'T SET IT AND FORGET IT

Set it and forget it doesn't work with irrigation systems unless you have the most-recent technology to-date such as a WiFi Hydrawise controller, and even then it isn't 100% auto-run, although it is as close as we've ever been. It's more like today's new car systems, that warn you if you're driving outside the lines or coming up on someone too fast. It isn't completely self-driving, but we aren't far from it.

Due to the weather consistently changing, we have to know our irrigation systems' functions to really have a lawn that is it's healthiest. Changing settings within the guidelines listed above as the weather changes is a very good start to taking full advantage of your sprinkler system's strenghts to get the most out of your lawn.

3. WATERING DEEP MATTERS

Less frequent, but deeper watering can build heartier, healthier roots. Water as needed but aim for no more than two times a week, unless you have new landscaping that neeeds watering more often to get established. The Alachua county code regulates this as well. Watering deeper and allowing more time between waterings allows the roots to stretch for water deeper into the soil and causing a stronger lawn over-all. Think of it like lefting weights to stress your muscles, and how that stress makes them stronger and larger. Roots work very similarly. However, just as you can strain your muscles putting them under too mcuh strain, the same can be said for lawns.

More lawn watering tips:

Water early in the morning as possible, whenever you can, between 6AM and 10AM.
Don’t water so long that water is cascading down the street; it’s wasteful. Some lawns that are on slopes can use "soak times" or MP Rotator nozzles to get the right amount of water down without wasting it.
If a brown area of your yard doesn’t respond to watering, there may be a bigger issue like lawn disease, poor water coverage, or pet damage at play.
Don’t water in the evening, for it puts your lawn at risk for disease except in the case of extreme drought.
PRO TIP: Watering in the early morning allows your lawn to dry fully in the sun during the day which can prevent certain fungal diseases that arise due to an overly saturated lawn.

2 STEPS TO KNOWING HOW MUCH WATER YOUR LAWN NEEDS

• Measure your sprinkler output using an inexpensive rainmeter placed in the lawn near the water source, or you can DIY this yourself by using a plastic cup or an empty tuna can with a one-inch level noted with a permanent marker.
• Take note of how long it takes for the rainmeter, plastic cup or empty tuna can to fill to the one-inch mark in the dryest areas of your lawn. This gives you a rule of thumb for how long you should water in that zone, so you can set your sprinkler zone to this amount of time. (We still recommend adjusting seasonally)

We hope this blog is helpful in learning how to properly water your Gainesville lawn. If we can help you with your Gainesville, Fl sprinkler system or Gainesville lawn concerns, give us a call at (352) 378-5296 or email info@themasterslawncare.com.

Do you ever ask yourself, 'Why does my Gainesville lawn have spots in it?' or 'Why does my Gainesville lawn have mushrooms?'

This video from The Master's Lawn Care can help you find out. Grey leaf spot and mushrooms are both types of fungi, which come from overwatering. Sometimes, overwatering a lawn cannot be helped - because of extreme amounts of rain (like at the time of this video), however other times it comes in shaded areas of the lawn when an irrigation system is compounding with the rain to cause too much moisture in the lawn.

The grey leaf spot can be treated with a contact fungicide, such as Spectator,  but the more effective and better way would be to have a rain sensor installed on your irrigation system and cut back the watering times until the wet season has passed.

If we can help with your lawn or orrigation concerns, please don't hesitate to call our office at (352) 378-LAWN, contact us by filling out our contact form, or by emailing us at info@themasterslawncare.com

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!

April slipped right past us and here we are in mid-May, knocking on summer's door. This is the time of year that we hear from a number of clients who are particularly concerned about their lawn. The typical call may sound a lot like this: "I'm really worried about my lawn. It started to green up from winter and was looking nice right after you fertilized. Suddenly, it's getting worse. Is there a pest eating my lawn or does it need more fertilizer?" After spending a few minutes on the phone with the client asking questions, we're typically able to identify one of the 3 primary spring issues.

The majority of problems in Gainesville lawns over the past couple weeks has come from 3 primary concerns:

#1 Drought Stress

This is the most common issues, and luckily, drought stress in lawns is one of the easiest problems to identify. Take a look at areas of your lawn that get some shade throughout the day. Does this area look healthier than the areas that are in full sun all day long? If so, you most likely have irrigation issues to address. Many clients will increase the length of time their irrigation is running, or perhaps add another day of irrigation. But the answer may not be as simple as that.

I met with a client just last week that was certain her sprinkler system was running several times a week because she sees it running as she goes to work. She was correct, the system was actually set to run every other day, which is actually far too often. What the client didn't realize is that only half her system was functioning correctly. She had 1 zone not operating due to cut wires, 2 broken heads, and large shrubs blocking several of her sprinklers from covering her turf. Long story short - just because your sprinklers are running doesn't mean your lawn is getting enough water! This is why we recommend seasonally inspecting your sprinkler system for proper coverage and operation.

Here are a couple photos of shrubs blocking irrigation coverage, broken sprinkler heads, and a close up photo of drought stress (notice the folded leaf blades).

 #2 Winter Damage

This past winter got substantially colder than we're used to experiencing in North Florida (see the link).The cold weather also dragged on for a longer time than normal, giving us a slow start to spring. (We had lows in the 50's in the first week of May!) January's hard frosts did a lot of damage to Gainesville lawns that didn't have deep roots - especially recently sodded lawns. Many of these lawns are starting to come back, but it will take some time for them to recover from the stress. Most lawns that have been established and fertilized for a couple years didn't experience frost damage due to their roots being deep down in the insulated soil. This is another reason our fertilization program focuses heavily on soil nutrition and root development in the fall - to prepare for frosts. 

#3 Chinch Bugs (which infest due to drought stress!)

n actuality, we haven't seen many chinch bugs this spring in comparison to prior years because of the lingering cold weather. Chinch bugs rely on two factors to thrive - heat and drought. Because the heat has just really kicked off in the past couple weeks, they have gotten a slow start but will be beginning to spread quickly over this dry and warm weather we are experiencing. Keep a lookout for signs of chinch bugs dry areas near concrete and asphalt. (see link for YouTube video on identifying chinch bugs). Below is a photo of where chinch bug damage typically begins.

If we can help you with your Gainesville, Florida lawn's sprinkler system coverage, recovering from winter, or protecting your lawn from chinch bugs - please don't hesitate to call us at (352) 378-5296 or fill out the form at the top of the page.

With our North Florida winter weather, you never know if the weather will be freezing out or sunny one minute and rainy the next.

Gainesville Irrigation Weather Sensors give peace of mind knowing you are:

• Watering when it’s nice outside - not raining or freezing out
• Meeting Gainesville and Alachua County Code for your Sprinkler system
• Preventing frost damage (as seen in the video)
• Preventing overwatering
• Conserving water
• Saving money on water bills  

With a rain sensor, you can have security knowing that you are only watering when it’s needed.  The sensor has a removable tipping rain bucket that measures the rainfall.  You can adjust the sensor to automatically stop watering when the bucket is filled to an 1/8" up to 3/4".

The Rain/Freeze sensor is programmable.  Most people set it at 35 degrees to turn off the system.  This helps prevent possible hazards to pedestrians with icy sidewalks and damage to your sprinkler system and landscape as shown in the video.

At The Master's Lawn Care we understand that there are a lot of landscaping companies to choose from here in the Gainesville, Florida and Alachua County area.  We also understand that when you invest your hard-earned money in your Gainesville landscaping you want to know that your investment will hold up.

That means plants and perennials that thrive, Gainesville sod that is lush and healthy, a Gainesville sprinkler system that is consistently reliable, and Gainesville patios and hardscapes that will stand the test of time.

We stand behind our motto on every job, which is "to constantly exceed our customer's expectations while setting the industry example for quality craftsmanship and professionalism."

We are proud of the Gainesville landscape designs that we install and maintain, and just as proud of our ability to stand behind our work.  That’s why our Landscape and Irrigation Warranty Policy is the most comprehensive you will find anywhere. With The Master's Lawn Care, our clients are free to enjoy the beautiful Gainesville landscapes that we design and build for them with full peace mind.

In general, most turf grasses need about 3/4" - 1" of water per week to maintain green color and active growth. However, during certain times during the summer when high temperatures are the norm, you should allow your Gainesville lawn to naturally slow down in growth during those extreme conditions by not fertilizing with any nitrogen so it doesn't need more water. Many factors such as the soil and weather all have a role in the lawn's water needs. Here are a few guidelines to follow:

• When is it time to water? 
  The first few warm days of Spring does not automatically mean to use your Gainesville Irrigation System. In fact, allowing lawns to start to go under mild drought stress actually increases rooting and strength. Watch for foot printing, or footprints remaining on the lawn after walking across it (instead of leaf blades bouncing back up). Grasses also tend to curl and fold when stressed by drought, which is a good sign to use your Gainesville sprinkler system Sampling the root zone soil could be another option.

• Water as infrequently as possible. 
  Thoroughly water when you do water so moisture soaks down to the deep roots. Exceptions to this general rule would be for newly seeded lawns where the surface needs to stay moist, newly sodded lawns that have not yet rooted into the soil, or when summer patch disease is a problem (see Gainesville Lawn Diseases). Otherwise, avoid frequent waterings that promote shallower root systems and weeds (e.g., crabgrass). 

• Water early in the day if possible.
  Given a choice, water early in the morning when lawns are normally wet from dew. Avoid midday watering due to excessive evaporation, and at night due to potential increased chances of some diseases gaining a foothold. The exception to this guide is when you are in extremely hot weather and nighttime temperatures don't go below 68 degrees. Then it is better to water in the late afternoon or early evening, providing you don't have watering-time restrictions. Early or late in the day reduces the amount of evaporation that takes place during the very hot day, allowing more water to reach the root zone. Some Gainesville Landscape Designs are prone to fungus problems though, so be careful about your timing.

• Spread the water uniformly across the lawn. 
  Gainesville Sprinklers vary in distribution patterns, and require spray overlap for uniform coverage. Placing coffee cans or similar straight-sided containers on the lawn can help measure water application rates. Avoid flooding areas, or missing other spots. On heavy clay soils and slopes, watch for excessive runoff; it may be necessary to apply the water in several applications to allow for adequate penetration.

• Water conservation.
  To help conserve water, mow your lawn at a higher than normal height, avoid applying an excess of nitrogen as warm weather approaches, limit traffic over the lawn, improve turf rooting, control thatch and soil compaction, and avoid pesticide use on drought stressed lawns. Don't allow water to hit the driveway or into the street. This is just wasteful.

• Avoid overwatering
  Use a raingauge to measure how much water you're applying. Overwatering does more than deplete the water supply, it also makes plants prone to pests and adds to stormwater runoff, which pollutes our water systems. By choosing and operating a watering system correctly, you can reduce water bills, insect and disease problems, and maintenance requirements. For example, the more you water your lawn, the faster it grows and the more it needs to be mowed. If you need an Irrigation Contractor, TMLC can schedule a service call to check your system, verify coverage, set your timer, and repair any issues you may have with your system. GRU even offers a Gainesville Irrigation rebate for us to do so, which will make the service call almost free of charge!

• Hold off watering after fertilization and hold off fertilizing if heavy rains are expected.
  To reduce the possibility of having fertilizer wash into our water system, don't water heavily soon after fertilizing. Use light waterings to give the fertilizer the opportunity to be absorbed by the soil. Also, if heavy rains are in the forecast, hold off fertilizing until the heavy rains have passed.

• Monitor rainfall
  Don't water the lawn if rains are expected soon. Keep track of rainfall for the week. Don't apply more water to the lawn than what is absolutely necessary. The guide of about 1" of water per week is only a guide. If your lawn doesn't get that 1" of water, it's not going to die. A rain sensor will help monitor this for you, and TMLC can gladly install one if you do not have one already!