Recommendations For Well-Maintained Landscaping Sprinklers

Sprinklers and automatic systems are a helpful element to keeping your yard's landscaping and vegetation alive and well. But with any home system, you want to make sure to keep it maintained with some regular practices and care. Here are some recommendations to help you keep your sprinklers maintained with proper care.

Winterize and Prepare for Spring

After you have used your sprinkler system for an entire season and the weather begins to cool off, you want to properly winterize it so that it does not become damaged from the winter freezing temperatures and ice. When your lawn stops growing due to the colder temperatures, you won't need to water your lawn any longer, so prepare to switch off your sprinklers for winter. Shut the water off to the sprinkler's controls and use an air compressor to blow air out through the lines to push through any remaining water. If you have a system with drains set at the lower sections of your lines, you can simply switch off the water and open the valves to your system. However, check with a landscape professional if you are not sure and they can inspect your system for the proper winterization recommendations.

In the spring you will also need to follow some steps to get them ready for use. Wait until the weather has warmed up without any risk of freezing temperatures at night and switch the water back on to your system. Before you begin the system's run program, remove the end sprinkler head to flush the system clear of any debris left in your sprinkler's pipes. Switch on the sprinklers and let the water run for a minute or two to allow for the lines to be cleaned out. If there are multiple zones, do this for each sprinkler zone.

Inspect Your System

During the watering season, you should never switch on your system and let it run unmaintained. This can result in some problems in your system, such as broken sprinkler heads, dead spots in your vegetation, loss of water, and expensive water bills. Pay attention to your sprinklers to check them periodically and make sure they are functioning properly. 

Switch on the water to each zone and check each head for its spray pattern and to make sure there are no leaks around the base of the connection of its head. This is also a good time to make sure the water pressure is still adequate for your sprinklers to reach all the vegetation surrounding their zone.

If you need help with sprinkler maintenance, talk to a landscaping company in your area.