Water your lawn better with sprinklers

Whether you're growing prize-winning roses or just trying to keep your yard looking good with a few flower beds, you know what a chore watering is. Do it better with this guide.

Micro irrigation — a network of plastic tubing and low-volume drippers and sprinklers that reach every part of the garden you want to water — takes the hassle out of watering. 

1. The morning hours are the optimal watering time because the grass blades will dry before nighttime. Lawns that stay moist at night encourage harmful mould and fungal growth. Quit watering one to two hours before sunset. You'll also lose more water to evaporation if you water during hot afternoons.

2. An impact (or impulse) sprinkler will lose 20 per cent less of its water to evaporation than the types of sprinklers that send thin streams of water into the air. But oscillating sprinklers do work better on smaller, rectangular yards.

3. Never give your yard just a "sip" of water, thinking that's better than nothing. That encourages shallow rather than healthier deep roots.

4. Don't overwater, either. If water puddles or is streaming off the yard, you're simply wasting water.

5. Attach a water timer to your hose, and set it each time you water. Once you know how long to water, a water timer will do the thinking for you. You won't have to worry about shutting off the water at the right time.

•  Clean the filter once a month (more often if you have well water with a lot of sediment).
• Inspect the drippers occasionally to make sure they're working properly.
• In cold climates, prepare for winter by removing the shutoff Y-splitter, backflow preventer, controller, filter and pressure regulator and bringing them inside. Remove end plugs and drain or blow the water out of the system. Replace the caps and plug the faucet end of the tubing as well.