EDUCATION
How To Drain Your Irrigation System
Hi, I’m Stephanie from Timberline Landscaping, and today we’re going to give you a brief tutorial on how to drain your irrigation system. This time of year, it’s very important to drain your irrigation system overnight when we get freezing temperatures. It’s going to help protect the portions of your irrigation system that are above ground. You can still turn your irrigation system back on during the day when temperatures warm up to keep the water going to your turf areas and other plant materials.
We’re going to start out inside of your house with how to turn off the water to your irrigation system. So here we are inside of the home. We’re going to turn off the water; that’s our first step. It’s going to be near to your water heater and other systems. Yours may not look exactly like this but should be similar. So you’ve got your main water shut-off for the house, which would be these valves here. Your irrigation system is going to tee off of that main line. So here’s where our irrigation turns off. You can see that here our valve is in line with the pipe, which means that the water is turned on to the system. So we’re just going to turn that 90 degrees to shut off the water. Since we’ve done it at the tee, we’ve only turned off the water to the irrigation system itself, which is going to keep the water going to the rest of your home.
So for our next step, we are out at our backflow. This is typically going to be on the side of your home. You’re going to have something that looks very similar to this. We’ve got two valves here; currently they’re open. We’re going to partially close them by turning them to a 45 degree angle. We don’t want to close it all the way because we don’t want to block that water in completely. We want to leave room for it to escape and move as things freeze. Next, we’re going to take a dime or a screwdriver and we’re going to turn our test cocks to a 45 degree angle as well. You just want to match it up with the angle of your ball valve. So here we’ve got two of them; you may have more of these that you need to open. And lastly here, we are just going to open our valve at the bottom, and you will see some water escaping to let that water drain out. That means that we now have this prepped, all of the water drained out, so that we’re good to go for a freeze overnight.
So for our third and final step, we’re back at the water shut-off. You want to have a bucket for this step. Right where we have the water turned off, we’ve got a small valve here. Keep your bucket handy because when you open this, water is going to come out. Catch as much as you can in there and just open that valve up. This is draining the rest of your system. So now that the water is flushed out of the system, we want to make sure we put this cap back on here nice and tight.
So now that your system is drained, it’s protected from freezing temperatures overnight. Here in Colorado where we are, it’s still very important to have your system blown out before we get some of those harder temperatures over the winter. That’s going to make sure that you’re protecting your pipes that are under the ground when that ground starts to freeze. For us, we recommend doing it around the middle to end of October to ensure that you protect your entire irrigation system. Thanks so much for joining us for how to drain your irrigation system.
Freeze Damage To Trees
My name is Elle. I’m with Timberline Landscaping, and I’m the arboricultural manager. Anyway, we had another major freeze event. Back on October 10th of last year, 2019, we had a dramatic temperature fluctuation where the temp went from 70 degrees down into the teens, and up north in northern parts of town got into the single digits. So a lot of trees and shrubs and even evergreens, and in this case roses, were dramatically affected by this temperature change where the water in the vascular tissue went from 70 degrees to expanding and freezing and blowing out those cells, and that prevented the plant from getting any water.
So what we’re recommending is to cut all the dead out of these plants. And as you can see here, there is some rejuvenation where it is starting to green up out of the base. So that’s what we’re really trying to encourage by rejuvenating it. Then watering and fertilization are a couple other things you can do to help kind of kickstart the plant to have it start growing again.
Winter Watering
With some preparation, you can minimize and even prevent hail damage to your plants. Fertilizing can give your plants some extra strength, and strong plants are hardier against physical damage. Before summer hail storms hit, be sure to fertilize your plants properly. Being proactive is important. Gather any materials you might need ahead of time. June has some of the heaviest hail storms. If hail is in the forecast, move all of your potted plants and hanging baskets indoors or undercover. Put the hail covers on your plants in place. Make sure that they are weighted down and sturdy enough to handle high winds.
Sometimes hail storms are so unexpected that there isn’t time to prepare. After the storm is over, take some time to assess your plants. Remove broken branches, stems, and leaves so that the plant can focus on healing. Give your plants some time. Healthy plants can recover quickly from damage, so be on the lookout for new growth. Damaged plants can be more vulnerable to insects and diseases. Fertilize your plants to give them the extra boost after a damaging hail storm. Be sure to water your plants correctly after a hail storm. The mounting hail will provide water for your plants, and overwatering them afterward can be more harmful than good. Hail storms can be hard on plants, but with a little preparation and aftercare, you can have a lively and healthy garden.
How Often Should I Mow?
How often you mow your lawn isn’t as important as how much you cut. We recommend never cutting off more than a third of the grass’s length during a single mow. The most common lawn grass in Colorado Springs is Kentucky bluegrass. It is a drought-tolerant cool season grass. It is most likely your lawn type. This grass thrives between two and three inches tall and should not be cut shorter than two inches.
Cutting grass too short can result in shallow roots and increased weeds. Longer grass is more drought and disease resistant and will out-compete weeds. Longer grass is easier to maintain because the root system will be well established and deeper. Stick to a schedule and mow more often during the grass growing season. If you miss a mowing and turf is allowed to get too long, don’t take more than a third of the blade in one cutting. This can be achieved by lowering your deck incrementally to get back to the desired height over a several day period.
Cool season grasses’ peak growing season is during the spring and fall. Mow more often during peak growing season, with an average of about once per week for Kentucky bluegrass and other cool season grasses. Fertilization and watering frequency can increase the growth of your grass, causing the need to mow more frequently. Avoid mowing your lawn when it is wet to prevent damage from soft soils which are easily rutted.
If your grass looks unhealthy after mowing, the blade setting on your mower might be too low, causing scalping which will expose the crown and soil to excessive heat. Your mower blades may be dull, causing a tattered leaf or yellow appearance. Take care, prepare, and enjoy a healthy, lush lawn.
Tree Wrapping
Today we’ll discuss the importance of wrapping a tree in the winter. Sunscald happens on the south-facing side of trees in the wintertime. The warm sun can cause thawing during the day and the cool nights can refreeze the plant cells. This can cause them to burst and result in cracks in the trunk. If the tree gets damaged, it’s essentially an open wound that can lead to insects, diseases, and cause nutrient and water disruption. If not cared for properly, it could lead to the eventual death of the tree. We wrap in October and November and remove the wrap by the end of April. Leaving tree wrap on during summer months can lead to an increase of insects and diseases.
Hail Damage Mitigation
With some preparation, you can minimize and even prevent hail damage to your plants. Fertilizing can give your plants some extra strength, and strong plants are hardier against physical damage. Before summer hail storms hit, be sure to fertilize your plants properly. Being proactive is important. Gather any materials you might need ahead of time. June has some of the heaviest hail storms. If hail is in the forecast, move all of your potted plants and hanging baskets indoors or undercover. Put the hail covers on your plants in place. Make sure that they are weighted down and sturdy enough to handle high winds.
Sometimes hail storms are so unexpected that there isn’t time to prepare. After the storm is over, take some time to assess your plants. Remove broken branches, stems, and leaves so that the plant can focus on healing. Give your plants some time. Healthy plants can recover quickly from damage, so be on the lookout for new growth. Damaged plants can be more vulnerable to insects and diseases. Fertilize your plants to give them the extra boost after a damaging hail storm. Be sure to water your plants correctly after a hail storm. The melting hail will provide water for your plants, and overwatering them afterward can be more harmful than good. Hail storms can be hard on plants, but with a little preparation and aftercare, you can have a lively and healthy garden.
Cycle & Soak Irrigation
Cycle and soak divides watering your lawn into three watering sessions. Typically, you will water until you see runoff to determine length of watering time per cycle. Note that the type of soil you have and head types all affect the cycle length. The first watering session is to break the surface tension of the soil and allow the water to penetrate. After the first session, wait 30 minutes before the next cycle. The second cycle is absorbing further into the soil, reaching the roots. After the second session, wait 30 minutes before the final cycle. The third cycle allows for additional absorption, filling the root zone. The goal is to allow the water to soak down 6 to 8 inches into the soil. This promotes the growth of deep roots, which ultimately creates stronger, happier grass.
Aerating Your Lawn
Aeration is a process of removing soil cores or plugs from your lawn by extracting them from the lawn surface. Aeration creates small pockets in your lawn that allow more water, oxygen, and fertilizer to penetrate into the soil, which leads to healthier grass. Some of the signs that your lawn might need aeration are spots near the lawn or stunted growth, high traffic on your lawn from kids or pets, standing water, or excessive water runoff. This can also be aided by cycle and soak irrigation.
Before you aerate, mow your lawn about one and a half to two inches above the ground. Water one to three days before aerating to ensure moist soils. Be aware and mark where your sprinkler heads are. You can use a hand aerator or an aeration machine to go over the lawn. Longer tines at least four inches on the aerator allow the water and fertilizer to penetrate deeper. Proceed in two different directions. The aerator will pull small plugs from the lawn. Make sure that your aeration method pulls the plugs out as opposed to just pushing the dirt down further. Be sure to leave them there so they can break down and return nutrients to the soil.
Aerate your lawn annually if it has moderate usage. High use lawns may require aeration twice per year, once in the spring and once in the fall. For cool season turf like fescue, bluegrass, and ryegrass, aeration is recommended in the fall. These are the most common varieties in Colorado Springs. For turf such as Bermuda, buffalo, or St. Augustine, it is best to aerate in spring or early summer.
Make sure you check the weather before you aerate. Avoid dry periods, heat waves, and cold snaps. Avoid excessively wet or muddy grass. Wait to aerate your newly seeded or newly sodded grass for at least a year. If you have any questions, call a Timberline expert.
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