For yards in drier climates, an in-ground sprinkler system is a necessity to achieve a green lawn. Most lawns that receive less than 1 inch of rain during a week should have some type of irrigation system to ensure that the grass is watered enough. But sprinkler systems are full of many moving parts, and it’s only natural that sprinkler heads need adjusting and underground pipes need repair at some point. Regular lawn sprinkler repairs are crucial for lawn health during the summer and prevent drought stress on your turfgrass . Read on to learn why it’s important and what to look for when repairing your sprinkler system.

The Importance of Lawn Sprinkler Repairs

Lawn sprinkler repairs benefit you and your lawn in a few different ways. Here are two of the ways you benefit from maintaining your lawn’s sprinkler system.

Your entire lawn is watered sufficiently. When you check in on your sprinklers, you don’t have to worry about brown spots cropping up on your lawn later in the season. You also won’t need to worry about runoffs and wet spots that come from too much water. By maintaining your irrigation system, you will make sure that your lawn is watered exactly as much as it needs to be, and that will help keep your lawn healthier and greener.
You will help conserve water. When a sprinkler head comes loose and gushes water, your lawn is getting too much water, and it’s wasting a valuable resource. Taking care of your sprinkler system helps make sure that only the right amount of water is being used, and that it’s being used for your lawn—not the cars, house, or driveways.

Lawn Sprinkler System Maintenance Checklist

Make sure you perform sprinkler maintenance at least once a year. At the beginning of the sprinkler season, you should always perform a routine check on your sprinkler system. You may consider checking on the sprinklers once a month for the rest of the summer to make sure everything is in working order. In addition, you should check on your sprinklers if you start noticing brown spots or runoff or soaking wet driveways.

When you go to maintain your irrigation system, there are a few things to check for that will help keep your lawn healthy and green:

• Water pressure. Before you turn on your sprinklers at the beginning of the season, you should always check the water pressure. If you notice problems occurring during the summer, it’s always a good idea to check the water pressure again. While the ideal water pressure can vary based on your sprinkler manufacturer, typically it should be between 40 and 65 PSI.
• Missing or damaged sprinkler heads. The sprinkler heads are often the culprits for system problems, so they should be checked regularly. Examine each individual sprinkler and see if the head is there and undamaged. If you find a missing one, you should attach a new head before running your sprinklers. You can often find the head somewhere in the lawn, but if you need a new one, they are sold at most hardware stores.
• Angle and arc of the sprinkler heads. Even if all the heads are in pristine condition, you will want to check that they’re all going to spray at the right angles. Before starting the sprinklers, examine where each sprinkler will spray to make sure the irrigation will be watering the lawn and not the sidewalk. If a head is at the wrong angle or arc, adjust it with a small screwdriver. You can tighten or loosen the screw on top until it’s at the right angle.
• Correct runtime. Your lawn sprinkler system should water the grass early in the morning before it gets too hot. Set your sprinklers to run early morning and end before the sun rises. The system should also run only as long as necessary. You can figure out how long that should be by testing the sprinklers and seeing how long it takes to fill a can with an inch of water.
• Remove weeds. Weeds will absorb 20–40% of the water from your grass, so it’s important to remove them early on in the season. At Lawn Doctor, we provide weed removal services to help keep your lawn healthy.
• Watch your system run the first time each year. You should always watch your sprinklers the first time they run, so you can make sure all the heads are angled correctly, and nothing is going wrong. If you see something wrong during this time, you will be aware right away instead of waiting for brown spots to develop.

After you check for each of these things, your sprinkler system should be ready for the upcoming season.