For those of you that know me, you know that there are a few things that make me just a little bit crazy. I would like to share one of those with today. PLEASE! Take a few moments in the next few days to do a sprinkler system check. Run each station and make sure you have no gushers! Next, reset the start times. During the summer it should run in the early A.M. and during the winter months it should run during the day to avoid an " icelandic landscape." Best of all, just turn the darn thing off and operate it as needed. Normally in the winter months we should have enough help from above so that we need not depend on our lakes. Last of all, check into water catchment systems. Rain barrells at the end of your down spouts ( the larger the better ) can conserve more than you might think. Don't forget to always water your plants completly before a hard freeze. Water acts as an insulater against the cold. Until next time, keep your hands in the dirt, even if its a little cold!

Now that spring is here lets review common sense watering practices ( also known as water rationing )
At this point you should still be manually running your sprinkler system. I know its been windy and a little dry, just monitor the system closely.
I run my spray head zones for 12 minutes only and my rotor zones for 18 minutes. The system is set to begin watering at 4 A.M. and as soon as it finishes it will run the cycle again. This allows for deeper water penetration and no run off! When it gets really hot I will start an hour earlier and run it one more cycle. I do this ONCE A WEEK ONLY!!! Water annuals by hand in between as needed, and never water between 10 A.M. and 6 P.M.. To conserve water always mulch your beds and apply a thin layer of compost to your turf.
PLEASE help conserve our most precious resource.

Thanks

John, can you recommend a company that sells "rain
harvesting" tanks. I've looked at several online but if you know of a good one in the FW area that would be great.
v

I bought a rain barrel from craigslist last year. It is 250 gallons and I paid $50.00 and I picked it up in Euless. It is large, cube and is surrounded by metal tubing. Has a valve at the bottom and I installed a hose adapter. I did spend a couple of hours cleaning the inside.

Have drip irrigation going to flowers and another drip irrigation going to garden. Works great and is very simple to set up. I just change the hose to direct to which area I want watered. With the last couple of T-storms, it takes just a few minutes to fill the barrel.

http://www.craigslist.org

Make sure your are at Dallas and not some other city. Good luck!!

Gene

good price on that barrel, lowest i have seen is $70

Join Howard and I on June 28 when our guest will be Rick and Pam daniels from rain water harvesting solutions. They are really awesome