Ensure Your Tulsa Sprinkler System Is Ready For Spring

Before you start the sprinkler system for your Tulsa home this spring, there are several things you’ll need to do to ensure the irrigation system is not damaged.

It is always best to call a professional Tulsa irrigation company to perform the spring start-up maintenance for your sprinkler system. These sprinkler system professionals can ensure all of the components are working correctly and that your sprinkler system will conserve water, saving you time and money.  They fully understand the hydraulics involved in the piping system along with the best placement for sprinkler heads, and the best watering schedule for your specific lawn, soil, and various plants and shrubs. 

Hunter Industries also provides a great spring start-up guide with photos to help you make sure your Hunter sprinkler system is ready to use. 

But before you begin any of these start-up procedures, you’ll need to ensure the ground is not still frozen. Use a shovel to make sure the soil is frost-free at least 12 inches below the surface. Filling the system when the ground is still frozen can cause significant damage to sprinkler system pipes. 

Check all of the Tulsa sprinkler system parts such as valves, sprinkler heads, nozzles, and pipes to ensure that none are broken, cracked, or chipped. If any of these components are damaged, replace the parts before turning on your sprinkler system. It’s very important to make sure that all of the valves are working properly and not leaking. Make sure there are no leaves, dirt, or other debris blocking the sprinkler heads. Check and clean the main irrigation controller and ensure everything is set properly.

Usually about once a month, it’s important to check the sprinkler system for any leaks or broken components. Regular irrigation system maintenance will help keep your system running properly and help you save water.

When you open the main water valve, be sure to open the valve very slowly to allow water to fill the pipes. If these valves are opened too quickly, a surge of air pressure from the rushing water can cause the main lines to crack or burst. Then slowly fill each zone of the irrigation system. This high-pressure surge or “water hammer” is one of the biggest problems in sprinkler system start-ups, so read the manual for your particular sprinkler system before beginning the start-up or call a professional irrigation company to perform the start-up tasks.

Once you have filled the lines of the irrigation system, you can test the system by running each zone, starting it from the controller. Then walk through the running zone and check that the water pressure is in the proper operating range with a water pressure gauge. Low pressure can indicate a line break, and too much pressure can crack or burst pipes or sprinkler components. Also check to make sure sprinkler heads are aligned properly and watering the right areas of the lawn as well as checking valves, nozzles, and other components for leaks or cracks. Then you can set the valves to their regular operating positions.

Ensure the sprinkler system timer programs are set properly for each zone.  You may also need to replace the controller back-up battery, Hunter Industries noted.

It's best to have a professional make sure your sprinkler system in Tulsa is working properly and ready for spring. The Tulsa sprinkler system experts at Oklahoma Landscape can design, install, monitor, and maintain your entire irrigation system. We offer smart controllers and ET weather sensors to automatically adjust daily run times based on your landscape’s needs and onsite weather conditions. These sensors are economical and can reduce your water consumption by as much as 50% while creating a healthier lawn.

Call us today to ensure your Tulsa sprinkler system is working properly and running most efficiently.

Tulsa Landscaping Companies Going "Green" with Sustainable Landscape Design

Tulsa landscaping companies like Oklahoma Landscape are striving to use more sustainable landscape design practices. Basically…the landscaping industry is going “green.” That might seem strange to say about a landscaping company. After all, aren't they all about green, living things? Well yes, but sustainable landscape design takes to the next level – putting forth a concentrated effort to conserve resources in the environment through effective design.

What are some of the principles of sustainable design and what are the benefits to Tulsa home and business owners?

Sustainable design basically focuses on promoting a better environment for present and future generations. To do this requires careful planning and design to create landscapes that do not risk the health of humans or the environment, but rather encourage regenerative systems. In this careful planning, Tulsa landscape designers would consider how the landscape will be most often be used – whether for entertaining, children playing, relaxing, or other functions – and this planning not only helps to plan out how to conserve the earth’s resources but also how to conserve the homeowner’s resources as well.

Among the principles of sustainable design, are conserving the following resources:

Preserving Soil Health

Healthy soil will promote a healthier Tulsa lawn, plants, and other vegetation while preventing erosion and reducing pollution. But often soil gets compacted over time or by construction projects. Compacted soil then stops plant roots from getting the nutrients they need, and this often can lead to erosion and increased runoff water and then flooding. In sustainable design, soil can be conserved and restored, thwarting costly erosion, flooding, and any resulting water pollution. Core aeration can help relieve compacted soil, and composts and mulching can help put nutrients back into the ground. 

Water Conservation

Drought has become an ever increasing problem in the United States. Even in winter, portions of Oklahoma are still under abnormally dry conditions with some areas in extreme drought. According to the Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™), two practices – wasteful irrigation and undervaluing rain – have contributed to the imbalance of water. Through sustainable landscape design water can be conserved and treated as a resource. This would include selecting more native plants that require less irrigation, using drip irrigation systems, as well as harvesting rainwater to use for irrigation or water features rather than allow most of it to flow into and then overflow storm drains and sewer systems.

These sustainable efforts to conserve water in the landscape save homeowners and businesses money they would spend on irrigation and promote healthier communities by preventing waste water from backing up and creating public health issues.

‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ Material Resources

As with the general effort to go “green,” conserving material resources is very important. With watchful planning and forethought, less construction and yard waste can be created. Choosing more sustainable or recoverable materials can reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions, SITES™ noted.

Preserving and Adding Vegetation

Preserving the native plants in your landscape can help improve the soil, conserve water, increase air quality, and prevent erosion. Native plants are also more resistant to diseases and drought. In addition, grouping plants together with the same irrigation and sunlight needs can reduce your irrigation costs and reduce maintenance. 

Urban forests are creating cleaner, cooler cities, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) noted, reducing energy costs, and stormwater runoff. “U.S. trees remove some 784,000 tons of pollution annually, providing $3.8 billion in value,” ASLA reported. Adding urban green areas can help to combat increasing surface temperatures caused by sunlight absorbed by pavement and roofs, ASLA said. Many cities are integrating green roofs and other urban green and agricultural spaces to reduce energy expenses as well as provide various other benefits like improved efficiency and mental health while increasing property values.

Yes, the costs and health benefits of sustainable landscape design are numerous, creating a win-win situation for homeowners and urban development teams. Tulsa landscaping companies can thus successfully implement sustainable design not only in residential, but also commercial landscaping projects, so that you can ‘find yourself outside’ for generations to come.

For more information on sustainable landscapes, visit http://sustainablesites.org/.

Tulsa Irrigation Systems - Drip Irrigation Versus Traditional Sprinkler Systems

Oklahoma Landscape offers complete irrigation system repair and installation in Tulsa. Drip irrigation can help conserve water more than traditional sprinkler systems.  In general, drip applications use 30% - 70% less water than an overhead irrigation system, and plants grow to maturity about twice as fast.

 The Tulsa drip irrigation systems experts at Oklahoma Landscape can design the perfect irrigation system for your landscape. With drip irrigation, water loss due to evaporation, mist, surface runoff, or wind interference is virtually eliminated.  Shrubs and plants will thrive. A slow, steady application of water and nutrients directly to the plant's root system is the best way to ensure plant health and vitality.  Water spray on buildings, windows, or fencing is eliminated.  

With drip irrigation in Tulsa, unsightly brown spots on roses and other flowers are also avoided, since spray never touches the plants. Mulch and foliage are kept dry, reducing fungal diseases.  Drip irrigation lines install easily in tight, awkwardly shaped areas that are hard to water with spray or rotary sprinklers.

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