It may have rained this past weekend but not that much and the dry weather last week and forecast for this week signals the beginning of the irrigation season. It is not uncommon to need to irrigate in late April or early May as can be seen in the 2014 Spring Irrigation Need chart below. It is actually common to have some dry weather in the spring, although we are likely not done with rain (until July 5th
J).
The long range forecast can be seen on the following link.
In addition to the warmer drier weather, other factors impact the need to irrigate. As trees leaf out, their roots begin to absorb water. In addition, the leaf canopy often acts as an umbrella for lawns and shrubs below. While in full leaf, it takes a good soaking rain to penetrate the leaf canopy. Due to this, we are already seeing dry spots under and around trees. Lawns in parking strips and adjacent to south exposures of buildings also dry out faster and are showing signs of drought stress. We will address the problems and potential solutions for lawns that dry out quickest and those most difficult to irrigate. We have a belief that lawn has been placed in locations where it shouldn't have been and we will be proposing alternatives for you to consider.
We would be remiss to not promote
Weather Based Irrigation
again, but can't impress upon you how effective it is to water only when needed. Weather based irrigation has great ROI and have found it beneficial on most properties.
