October 25, 2004 Weekly Water Saving Tip

Water running down the gutters many times is the result of poor irrigation practices. As long as the grass is green, many people feel they are doing a good job of irrigating. Never mind that they may also be growing a crop of mushrooms or algae in the process! Poor irrigation practices fall into three categories: 1) Poor scheduling; 2) Poor system design; and/or 3) Poor maintenance. Topics that we have talked about all summer long. Today’s focus will be on poor scheduling particularly since irrigation frequency is decreasing.

With the rain we have received, no irrigation is needed for turf this week. And, if this moisture keeps up, nature may provide all the water needs for the plants. So, make sure you go out and turn the irrigation clocks off. As a side note, a survey of nine cities showed that 42 percent of homeowners change their irrigation clocks zero to two times per year. I hope these weekly tips give you some understanding of your plants water needs and serve as a reminder to adjust your timers as needed. It was also found in the survey that more than 50% of the timers were not correct in the amount of time the system should be in operation. With the coming of winter months it is important that we change our irrigation clocks, not only to save water, but also for the health of the landscape. Now, the duration of irrigation time remains the same, but the days between irrigations keep increasing as the days get shorter and the temperatures cool down. These are the triggers that tell us the plants need less water until such time that the system can be turned completely off. So, again, no irrigation is needed for this week.

The weekly water saving tip is provided to Washington County Water Conservancy District by Dr. Frank Williams, professor of the BYU Horticulture department. If you would like any more information please call me, Julie Breckenridge, at 673-3617.