Spring’s frequent rainfall and cooler temperatures enable exceptional plant growth in KC. However, Kansas City’s summer season is typically marked by much less rainfall and higher temperatures – wreaking havoc on the spring’s lush lawns and plant growth. Follow these tips to maintain healthy grass, thriving plants, and blooming flowers all summer long.
The irrigation professionals at Heinen can help set a watering schedule tailored to your property’s specific needs.
1. Follow Proper Watering Practices
It’s best to water lawns in the early morning hours, ideally before the sun rises. This gives the soil the maximum amount of time to absorb the moisture before the sun comes up and evaporation begins to take a toll.
Although watering during the hottest part of the day would intuitively seem to be a helpful way to bring the temperatures of grass and soil down, the heat actually causes a fair amount of evaporation before moisture can be absorbed into the soil and plant root systems. Watering in the evening or middle of the night leaves too much moisture, which can lead to fungal diseases and plant damage.
2. Upgrade to an Automated Watering System
As long-time homeowners know, hand watering can be tedious, inconvenient, and inefficient. Getting up before sunrise makes an already tedious chore even more so, and watering evenly with a hose or hose attachment is nearly impossible. On the other hand, an automated irrigation system is calibrated to provide the various zones of the lawn with exactly the right amount of water when it’s needed. Not too much, or too little – and with no handheld sprinkler and hose dragging required.
Advanced irrigation system controllers like the Rachio 3 are w-fi enable, include water usage tracking, localized weather adjustments – and much, much more!
A state-of-the-art irrigation system easily accommodates summertime travel plans as watering schedules are preset. And, Wi-Fi-enabled control systems allow homeowners to monitor watering and make changes as needed, via a mobile phone application.
3. Fertilizing
Properly fertilizing a lawn ensures that it receives the nutrients it needs not just to survive, but to thrive, throughout the hot summer season, and improve its resistance to heat. An automated watering system gets the most out of lawn fertilization.
A sprinkler system calibrated to a precise watering schedule ensures the proper amount of water to activate the fertilizer and avoids overwatering fertilizer run-off. It’s best if the lawn is well-watered a day or two prior to fertilization. Fertilizer should be applied in the cooler morning or evening hours, followed by a light watering to begin activation.
4. Add Mulch to Landscaping Beds
Mulch protects plants by retaining moisture and preventing soil in plant beds from drying out too quickly – which can stress plants already working hard to endure the summer heat. Trees’ woody root systems often begin near the ground’s surface thereby prohibiting nearby plant growth and, without the stability of plant root systems, soil around a tree’s base is quick to erode from heavy rainfall. Mulch at the base of trees helps prevent this erosion.
Mulch also insulates the soil and keeps it cooler, helps to stabilize the tree and plant root systems, impedes the growth of weeds, and keeps beds looking neat and tidy with very little maintenance.
Heinen Irrigation has installed high-efficiency irrigation systems in Kansas City for over 30 years.
Work with Kansas City’s Leading Irrigation Specialists!
An automated underground watering system is a homeowner’s greatest asset when it comes to keeping grass green and plants thriving. Consulting the irrigation experts at Heinen regarding a new sprinkler system or updating and refurbishing an existing system will ensure that your lawn and garden areas are healthy and beautiful this season – and for many, many years to come.
