To Irrigate or Not?

We are often asked if an irrigation system is necessary. Dragging around your old lawn sprinkler can be tiresome and ineffective—after all, their spray is haphazard and subjective to wind. But not everyone needs a complete irrigation system. Asking yourself some simple questions and weighing some of the pros and cons can help you determine if an irrigation system is right for you.

What are you watering?

The big question to ask yourself is what is it that you’re looking to water? If you’ve recently installed a brand new landscape and are looking to water an entire lawn, then an irrigation system is kind of a no-brainer. It can be incredibly nice to have that system handle the watering for you. It’s a lot of time and effort to water an entire brand-new lawn. Installing an irrigation system is a way to protect your investment in a new turf. If you’ve just spent a lot of money on a new landscape, an irrigation system can be quite valuable. It will help give your lawn the best chance of growing and filling in quickly. However, if you’ve only had new beds and shrubs installed, an irrigation system may not be quite as valuable to you. It’s more doable to water the beds on your own and the plants typically won’t require as much water as a brand new turf.

How will I water the beds?

With Northeastern Ohio’s heavy clay soil, which doesn’t drain well, we actually lose more plants to overwatering than under-watering. As a result, it’s important to consider just how much water you’re putting down on your beds. It’s a common mistake to install an irrigation system that over-sprays into the bed systems (to try and save money). In reality, plants require far less water than the lawn and must be watered by separate sprayers, at a different level. Or, many of our customers have an irrigation system installed to handle the turf, while continuing to hand-water their beds.

Is a lush green lawn important to me?

This is perhaps the most important question to ask yourself when considering an irrigation system on an existing lawn. If having a lush, green lawn is valuable to you, then an irrigation system would be worth the investment. A typical lawn will dry up and brown out during an average summer. If you want to keep your lawn at its greenest—all summer long—then an irrigation system will help achieve that goal.

If you’re on the fence about an irrigation system, we can help walk you through the pros and cons and discuss the possible options. It may not be the right choice for all of our clients, but in many cases an irrigation system can save you valuable time and labor.

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