We are settling in to our cool, damp days of winter here in
the Central Valley. This means that plants will not require much if any
supplemental watering from our irrigation system. Our demand for water is in
the 5-10% range of what is needed to hydrate our lawns and other plantings in
the peak summer months. With a normal rain shower here and there the sprinklers
could even be turned off until February or March. The exceptions may be the
newly planted annuals, and even they won’t need much water in winter months.
Water is precious and we certainly don’t need to waste it. Too
much water can increase disease incidence on the lawn and accelerate root rots
in trees and shrubs. Saturated lawns also get rutted up with heavy mowers
crossing it. Weeds, of course, will love the abundance of water. A bermudagrass
lawn will certainly do fine with no irrigation until you water in your preemergent crabgrass control products in February.
Here is the bottom line. Only water as needed. If you are
willing to turn off your water, do so and then watch for dry spots following
long periods of no rain and above normal temperatures. If you don’t do that, then please reduce your
water to one day a week and cut that to 50% or less than normal.
Let’s pray for a wet winter and tons of snow in the
mountains.
For more information about
watering or lawns, contact Weed Man at 266-1624 or visit our website at Fresno.WeedManUSA.com.
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