Landscaping Information

The purpose of this page is to provide information regarding your landscaping, irrigation, fertilizer and weed control options, etc.

Irrigation

Winter is coming. Time to shut off your sprinkler system. Turn your dial one place to the left and leave it off for the winter. If we have a prolonged dry spell, we may to run it manually now and then but let's hope for a wet winter.

Each homeowner is responsible for the watering of their front and back lawns and all plants on their property. The parking strip is controlled by a separate timer. The timers need to be adjusted at various times to account for the changing seasons and temperature. You are responsible for managing the timer so that your yard gets neither too much water nor too little water.

The best way to manage your timer is to set it to a standard time and then modify only the Seasonal Percentage. The landscaper recommended 12 minutes as the standard for 80 degree weather. Each yard may vary so you need to check your yard in Fall or Spring at 12 minutes to determine if each station is getting the right amount of water. You need water only once per day and it is recommended that you do so in the morning hours. Never water on Tuesday since that is the day the lawns are mowed.

With that set, you now need only modify the percentage. If the weather gets to over 100, set the percentage at 150% which will be 18 minutes. At 90 degrees, you may want to set it at 120%. When the weather is in the 70's, you would want to reduce the percentage to 70%.

You can't just set it and forget about it.

If you would like help in getting your timer set up, contact Dennis at 482-1114.

Things you should know:

• Lawn and garden watering make up more than 40% of your summer water use
• Grass clippings can supply at least 1/4 of your lawn's fertilizer needs.
• Grasses do better when the whole root zone is wetted and then partially dries out in between waterings.

Fertilizer

Fertilizing is a problem in our area. There are streams running downhill underneath the ground and it all heads for the wetland ponds in the park area. So, whatever nitrogen you introduce on your lawn is going to leech down to the ponds. Therefore, it is important that you use the correct fertilizer and to not use too much. We will have some information on this page provided by the Parks Dept. before summer.

Things you should know:

• Slow-release and natural organic fertilizers feed the lawn slowly
• Healthy lawns are a medium green color.
• With slow-release fertilizers, you only need to fertilize twice a year
• Mulch mowing can supply at least 1/4 of your lawn's fertilizer needs.

Weed Control Options

The same issues mentioned in the fertilizer section above apply to any type of chemical weed control. Figure whatever you spray is going to end up in the ponds one way or another. Here as well, we will have information from the Parks Dept. before summer.

Things you should know:

• Weed and feed products may damage soil and lawn health and pollute our waterways.
• Accept a few weeds in your lawn - target problem weeds.
• Remove problem weeds by hand in the spring and fall.
• If you must, spot spray problem weeds, don't cover your entire lawn just to kill a few dandelions.