Do you want to keep your garden lush and green even during the hottest and driest weeks of summer? If so, properly installing and maintaining your irrigation system is of utmost importance. These days, in-ground irrigation systems are the first preference of homeowners but without regular maintenance, even the best system fails.
You can’t rely on natural rainfall for the whole year to supply water to your beautifully designed lawn. Your plants need accurate water supply to survive and flourish which is possible only through a well-maintained irrigation system. With the right type of irrigation system, it’s possible to water your garden only where it is needed. Moreover, the latest underground sprinkler systems also give you the ability to automate your watering schedule. But if you have an automatic sprinkler system, maintenance and tune-ups are essential to conserve water, save money, as well as keep your lawn in perfect condition.
Maintenance ensures that your lawn sprinkler system operates at maximum efficiency forever to protect your investment. To help you save water and keep your irrigation system in prime working order, here are some simple tips to maintain your system. These tips will help you in watering your lawn, garden, or landscape more efficiently throughout the year.
Clean Clogged Sprinkler Head
As a part of routine maintenance, you need to make sure that the sprinkler heads are not clogged. If you don’t clean the clogged sprinkler heads, the system will fail to perform and your landscape will no longer receive the required amount of water. To avoid this issue, you should keep checking the sprinkler heads every now and then. If you find any substance or dirt clogging the heads or anything restricting the proper flow of water, take action immediately. The sprinklers with metal parts may also develop rust and can suffer corrosion over time. When this happens, you will need to replace that part because rust will hinder the flow of water. Another issue that impedes the sprinkler heads from deploying water properly is roots or vines growing over the sprinklers.
So, for cleaning the sprinkler head, you need to lift the head out and remove it from its sleeve. Now, dip it in hot water for a few minutes and use a stiff wire to remove any dirt or debris from the nozzle holes. Also, remove the debris buildup from the sprinkler sleeve itself.
Inspect the Piping and Broken Sprinkler Heads
From time to time, you should inspect the piping lines, as well as sprinklers. This is because pipes that connect the pop-up lawn sprinkler heads often develop leaks which result in wasting water. To avoid this issue, you need to look at where pipes are laid and take note of moisture or water at an unwanted place. In addition to this, you should make sure that sprinkler heads are not broken or missing. You need to fix or replace broken and missing heads so that water is distributed properly across your lawn and there are no wet spots and runoff.
Adjust Sprinkler Heads & Check Your Water Pressure
Another important step in the maintenance routine is checking the position of the sprinkler heads. Adjusting the position of the head is more important in regions that are vulnerable to seismic activities which may cause the heads in the lawn sprinkler system to shift. Soil erosion or seismic activity is responsible for making subtle terrain changes which result in disturbing the angle of the sprinkler head. The head also gets tilted due to a bump from a lawnmower or from accidentally stepping over it. If you don’t adjust the angle from time to time, the system will not evenly pump out water. Besides this, you should also keep a watch on the water pressure. Ideally, your irrigation system setting should be between 40 and 65 PSI.