Give Your Sprinklers (and Wallet) a Break for the Next Couple of Weeks!

Article by Ross Braun, Ph.D., Kansas State University

When it comes to watering our plants, nature has done the heavy lifting for us over the last few weeks! Most of Kansas and many surrounding states have received substantial rainfall (see the screenshot below from the KS Mesonet, taken on June 16: https://mesonet.k-state.edu/). Our lawns and landscape beds are thoroughly soaked and completely hydrated at this point.

With that in mind, I would advise you to turn off your irrigation system schedule for the next 10 days, possibly even longer, with more rain in the forecast this weekend.

Giving your sprinkler system and plants a temporary vacation from watering comes with a few great perks:

• You protect your plants: Applying irrigation this week is essentially overwatering your plants, which is drowning the roots, suffocating plants, and enhancing fungal disease problems.
• Give them a break and build better roots: Allowing the soil to dry down is good for the overall health of your plants, and it will start to encourage deeper rooting, so your plants are ready for summer droughts.
• You save money: Lower your upcoming water bill by skipping a few unnecessary cycles.
• You conserve water: Every drop counts, and there’s no need to waste water on an already-saturated lawn.

Most lawns only need about 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week in the summer months to thrive, and the recent and timely rains have easily covered that quota. Give your lawn and landscape a chance to breathe and soak up natural moisture, and you get to enjoy a break from worrying about watering for the next 10 days or more.

If you have a lawn care business, talk with your customers and educate them about this!

Don’t forget to set a reminder on your phone to turn the system back on next week if the weather dries up! If we get more rain this weekend, keep the sprinkler system turned off even longer!