The #1 mistake people make in the summer is forgetting to adjust their sprinkler system from spring settings.

Lawn:

Once the temperatures are consistently over 90 degrees daily, consider running a “cycle & soak” schedule, as follows:

• Water twice daily on your designated watering days, called “cycle & soak”. Your system cycles through all zones once, water soaks into the ground instead of running off onto sidewalks & streets, and then you run a second cycle & again the water is able to soak into the ground again.

Example: You normally water a zone for 10 minutes at 8:00 am (spring schedule). For a cycle & soak schedule, instead you program your system to water for 8 minutes at 5:00 am, and then again for another 8 minutes at 8:00 am. The times of day need to be adjusted based on how long it takes to water your whole property.

Beds:

Address the beds the same as the lawn. Follow a cycle & soak schedule, watering your beds twice a day on the designated watering days for your property.

IS IT REALLY HOT?

Once temps are consistently in the high 90’s or 100’s, we recommend adding a third and a fourth cycle on your watering days. Note: Most cities ban watering with spray heads and rotors between the hours of 10:00 am and 6:00 pm. The third cycle can happen any time after 6:00 pm (we recommend 7:30 pm or later in most cases). This helps cool down your plant material. When overnight temps are in the 80’s, we are not concerned about fungal development, so you can water anytime during the night as well.

• Rotor & MP Rotator heads: double the amount of time for each cycle
• Drip irrigation: You can run drip irrigation any time of day, but remember you must run drip a lot longer than any other type of irrigation.

Remember, this is Texas! Weather is unpredictable; it is important to remember that these are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Get to know your plants and pay attention to what they may need.

If you don’t already have one, we recommend a moisture meter!