Why You Can’t Just Set It and Forget It

When you first get fresh sod installed, you excitedly set up your irrigation system with all of the recommended settings. At first, you did all of the important testing and measuring to make sure you were giving your lawn just the right amount of water. But if you’re like most homeowners, at some point you decided the settings were right and you could just let it do its thing.  Unfortunately, you really can’t just forget about your sprinklers. There are a lot of things that can go wrong that could ruin your lawn if you aren’t actively monitoring it.

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Can You Completely Automate Your Sprinkler System?

Do you enjoy connecting and automating all of your devices and home features? If so, you have probably wondered more than once if you can automate your sprinkler system the same way. The short answer is yes—but you need to keep a few things in mind for it to work right. Make sure you get one with the right features—like rain sensors. One of the pitfalls of buying products online instead of locally is that you get options advertised to you that are not actually appropriate for your region. You may be able to find a ton of cheap automated sprinkler systems, but they might not have features you need for Florida’s tropical climate.

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Is Your Rain Sensor Overwatering Your Lawn?

The technology we have today is amazing. Almost everything in your life can be completely automated, adjusted, and put in your pocket. This extends even to lawn maintenance.  The latest irrigation systems offer automated features such as rain sensors that determine when to turn on your sprinklers, but the automation goes even beyond the traditional timers and newer sensors. These sprinkler systems can actually connect with your smartphone and other devices so that you can manage and monitor your lawn’s irrigation in real-time.

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Important Irrigation Tips for the Rainy Season

The Florida rainy season is a long one, and a lot of homeowners have questions about how they should be watering their lawns. You want to avoid drought-related problems, but you also don’t want to overwater your grass. Overwatering sod can actually kill it, and quickly. Oversaturation allowed to sit in humidity instead of drying smothers the grass, floods its roots, washes away needed nutrients from the soil, and more. The health of your lawn requires that you be very careful about how often you water. Here are some great tips. Water in the morning. If you water in the morning, you have the entire day of sunshine to help the excess water evaporate.

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Adjusting Your Watering Schedule for Higher Soil Moisture

From late summer to November, Tampa lawns get a ton of extra moisture. Not only do you have more humidity in the air in the late summer and early fall, but you also have much more rain. Severe storms or even hurricanes are almost commonplace in Florida.  With all of the rain that you get this time of year, it is important to make sure that you’re not overwatering your lawn. You need to adjust your sprinkler system according to the weather. Most of the summer it will rain at least a few times per week, and you may not need to water at all.  Here are some things to keep in mind as you adjust your watering schedule.

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Why Spring or Early Summer Is the Best Time to Plant Sod

We are full swing into summer, and a lot of Florida homeowners are wondering if it’s too late to plant sod. While you can plant sod at this time of year with careful planning, preparation, nurturing, and maintenance, it is not the best time to do so. Ideally sod would be laid in late spring or early summer. Here’s why. Lower Moisture Sod needs to be watered frequently when first installed so that the roots can take hold and grow deep, but you can also give sod too much moisture. From mid- to late-summer Florida gets a lot of rain, severe storms, and even hurricanes. All of that added humidity in the air and precipitation on your lawn creates a breeding ground for disease that can kill the sod. Spring and early summer have occasional rain, but not nearly as much moisture in the air.

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Top Ways to Prevent Disease in Sod During High Humidity

Investing in a new lawn can be exciting. But if you want a healthy lawn, you can’t rush the process. Especially during the height of summer, humidity and heat provide a breeding ground for fungal diseases in the new sod. While you can’t do anything about the Florida humidity, you can take measures to ensure that your new sod remains healthy until fall. Pre-Installation Preparation Doing the proper prep work before installing fresh sod is extremely important, especially in the hot and humid summer months. You should only trust experienced professionals, such as ourselves, to handle the preparation and installation of your sod. This way you’ll be sure that all of the necessary preparation has been completed correctly.

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How Higher Humidity Can Affect Your New Sod

If you’re a long-time Florida resident, the summer’s heat and humidity aren’t a surprise. But most people aren’t aware of how this humidity affects nature, and that includes your grass. If you’re planting new sod during this time of year, it is important to understand how humidity will affect your new sod and what you can do to help keep it healthy as roots develop. Humidity Causes Disease Even in a well-established lawn, humidity and heat can be a breeding ground for fungal disease. New sod is especially susceptible because it does not have established roots. There isn’t really anything you can do about the level of humidity in the Tampa area, but there are some things you can do to try to protect your grass.

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Choosing an Appropriate Variety of Grass for Tampa Area Lawns

Are you ready to lay new sod on a Tampa area property? Florida’s tropical climate is only appropriate for certain types of grass, but there are still many varieties to choose from. For most Tampa area lawns, St. Augustine, Bermuda, or Zoysia sods are most appropriate, but your particular lawn and maintenance requirements will ultimately decide what grass variety you choose. The Best Sods for the Tampa Region There are several different brands of St. Augustine and Bermuda grasses, and we carry a few other types of sods as well. However, we do have our favorites for the Tampa region. 

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Methods for Implementing or Improving Lawn Irrigation

Did you recently buy a home, or did you recently have new sod installed? If so, you may be working on implementing your lawn’s irrigation system. Current homeowners may also need to think about improving or upgrading their system. Whether your goal is a beautiful lawn, water conservation, or both, you’ll be able to make progress with these steps. Assess your landscape. You can visually assess your landscape yourself, or you can hire a professional to do this for you. Before you can design an effective irrigation system, you first have to understand what areas of your lawn actually need watering. The grade or slope of your yard could have a lot to do with this. Your lawn’s features may also allow you to use fewer sprinklers if water from rains can be redirected to drier areas.

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