Watering grass and foundation (house, mower, place)

[racehorse]

It occurs to me that as the weather is getting colder now, we should stop watering our grass and foundation. How often do other folks water their grass and foundation in cooler weather? Any special precautions I should take with my sprinkler system in this weather?

[nsumner]

We have soaker hoses around the house to water the foundation year round. You still need to water your foundation in winter.

Naima

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by nsumner

We have soaker hoses around the house to water the foundation year round. You still need to water your foundation in winter.

Naima

That is true to a certain extent. The ground needs to be kept somewhat moist around the foundation, but with the colder temps, the ground doesn't dry out and crack nearly as fast as it does in the summer, and thus, a lot less water is needed.

At the most, you probably only need to make sure the foundation gets about 30 min of water from the soaker hose a month (with some rainfall making up the rest.)

To the OP, definitely use soaker hoses, instead of your sprinkler system. I saw water had frozen in a few spots this morning on my way to work, meaning it's cold enough already to burst your irrigation pipes if they are filled with water.

[racehorse]

We actually don't have soaker hoses so I'll have to make a point of picking them up. Thanks for the tips! I'll be sure to shut my irrigation system off.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

That is true to a certain extent. The ground needs to be kept somewhat moist around the foundation, but with the colder temps, the ground doesn't dry out and crack nearly as fast as it does in the summer, and thus, a lot less water is needed.

At the most, you probably only need to make sure the foundation gets about 30 min of water from the soaker hose a month (with some rainfall making up the rest.)

To the OP, definitely use soaker hoses, instead of your sprinkler system. I saw water had frozen in a few spots this morning on my way to work, meaning it's cold enough already to burst your irrigation pipes if they are filled with water.

Err....it'd have to be a darn bit colder for a long time to freeze irrigation pipes at code they are ~ 6 inches deep. The ground hasn't frozen that deep in my memory. Most winters the ground does not freeze greater than 1/2 in or so at worst.


ETA were you talking about soaker hoses?

[MckinneyOwnr]

The pipes themselves are supposed to be buried about 6 inches deep, but the heads that stick up can burst far more easily. In fact, my lot has an uneven slope along one side of the house, some heads were sticking up far more than others, to the extent that I eventually got some flush mounted heads which are 4 inches shorter that now stick up the same amount as the regular Rainbird heads.

Most likely we'd need to have a few days in a row of freezing temps to do damage, but you never know, and it doesn't make sense to risk it by running the sprinkler system when soaker hoses do the job and with less water wasted.

[Jerry Coombs]

Foundation soil, like trees, need to be watered year-round. It should need it much less, though. A rule of thumb is that if there is separation between the soil and the foundation, it needs to be watered.

[FalconheadWest]

And keep in mind that you should get some of those stakes for the soaker hoses so they are pressed into the ground so the lawn mower can go right over them. Some people just place them right on the surface, but then they have to be moved every time you mow.