SPRINKLER HEAD COVERAGE ISSUES
Troubleshooting Those Pesky Brown Spots on Your Lawn
Is it a Fungus, a Disease, What Are Those Brown Spots?
Are the brown spots in your grass due to lawn fungus, insect pressure, or poor soil? Most often, they result from something as simple as improper sprinkler head adjustments. Lawn watering is a significant frustration for many homeowners, but a few adjustments to your irrigation methods can greatly enhance the overall health of your grass and eliminate those brown spots.
Most Lawn Issues Including Diseases are Sprinkler Related
Ninety-nine percent of lawn care issues stem from inadequate sprinkler coverage or improper watering techniques. Incorrect lawn watering can lead to problems such as increased lawn fungus, excessive water that harms beneficial microbial activity in the soil, and shallow grass roots. These common issues often arise from practices such as underwatering, overwatering, watering too frequently, or having poor sprinkler coverage. Additionally, it’s common for a single lawn to have some areas that are overwatered while other sections remain severely underwatered.
Fix the Watering, Fix the Brown Spot
These lawn watering issues can be resolved by closely following the 1-2-3-2-1 lawn watering technique. Organo-Lawn developed this technique specifically for lawns in Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado, but it is applicable worldwide.
Sprinkler Coverage
How to Check if Your Sprinkler System is Causing a Brown Spot in Your Lawn
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How to Measure Your Sprinkler System Water Output
Use a Rain Gauge
To determine how much water your sprinkler system dispenses, use a rain gauge or a flat-bottomed and flat-sided container, such as a Tupperware dish. Place the container in your lawn and run the sprinklers for 30 minutes. Afterward, measure the water depth in the container.
How Much Water?
For example, if you measure 1/2 inch of water after 30 minutes, and you water your lawn three days a week for 30 minutes, then you would to achieve 1.5 inches of water per week.
Test Both a Brown Spot and a Green Area
Be sure to repeat this process in different sections of your Colorado lawn, placing a rain gauge in both the green and brown areas.
Use Multiple Rain Gauges
It is advisable to use more than one rain gauge per sprinkler zone, as sprinkler coverage can vary depending on the system’s design.
Rain Gauge
How to Identify Poor Sprinkler Coverage
Sprinkler Coverage or Fungus?
Since the majority of brown spots in a lawn are caused by poor sprinkler head coverage, especially during hot and dry months of the year. The first step in diagnosing a lawn problem is to determine if the affected area is receiving adequate water. Before concluding that the issue is due to a grass fungus, it’s essential to first evaluate the sprinkler system.
Use 2 Rain Gauges
To properly assess watering problems in the lawn, you can use two identical rain gauges or two similarly sized flat-bottomed and flat-sided dishes (like Tupperware). Place one rain gauge or dish in the brown spot and the other in a green section of the lawn. Run the sprinklers for a standard cycle, and then measure the amount of water collected in each container.
Is There a Difference Between the 2 Gauges?
Typically, there will be a significant difference in the water levels between the green and brown areas. This discrepancy indicates that the sprinkler coverage is inadequate in the brown areas. To address the brown spots, adjust the sprinkler heads to improve coverage in those affected areas.
Sprinkler Overlap Issue
Sprinkler Coverage Issues in a Lawn FAQs
Do Most Sprinkler Companies Know the Best Way to Water a Lawn?
Many sprinkler companies are skilled at repairing broken irrigation systems, but they often lack the expertise needed for proper lawn watering. Typically, they program each zone to run for 20 minutes, three days a week, and then move on.
Our Sprinkler Technicians are Also Lawn Experts
At Organo-Lawn, our sprinkler technicians are also trained lawn care experts. This gives us an advantage over most sprinkler technicians because we can assess your lawn’s condition and determine if specific areas are overwatered, underwatered, or if the sprinkler system is programmed correctly. While our priority is lawn care, we also know how to effectively program and adjust sprinkler systems for optimal results.