Sprinklers Garden and Lawn
Your main task in August is going to be weeds and watering. These should be on the short list. Make sure you keep on top of your weeds. Weeds will suck the water out of the ground and and rob it from your plants.
Weeds can make a nice landscape look unsightly. In the past few months there have been a lot of homes that have been foreclosed on. When people move away and either abandon their home or are pushed out by the banks. The first thing that starts to suffer is their landscape.
The water gets shut off and the landscape starts to die. This takes a toll on the whole neighborhood, because only 1 yard looking bad in a neighborhood will detract from a nice area. Multiply this by hundreds for the current times, and you will see that whole neighborhoods are looking really sad.
A lot of areas in the country are in a drought situation now. There hasn’t been any rain to speak of this summer. It is a big turnaround from just a few short months ago when there were devastating floods.
Water conservation is going to be a priority for the coming year. As long as you deep water. This will help you keep water around the root zone where the plants need it.
Shallow short waterings do not help the plants it is a waste of water. The cycles need to be long enough to allow water to penetrate the soil. Of course water runoff will not grow concrete.
Some areas require you to only water on certain days. The agencies will cite homeowners and businesses who choose not to follow their guidelines. Check with your local agency for your water days.
Broken sprinklers are another problem, and will waste a lot of water. Also sprinklers out of adjustment will not water properly and again, will waste water.
If you are on a water ration, and you can not keep enough water on your grass to keep the green. Yes, it will turn brown, but never fear. During the heat and dry at times, grass will go through a dormancy as soon as water is reapplied your grass will come back. The only problem is the weeds have a tendency to do well even when the grass is gone dormant.
http://www.philthegardener.com
August 18th, 2008 at
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