Across the West, a historic drought - the worst in over a century - has sparked a water crisis that for the first time has forced California officials to impose mandatory statewide water restrictions.
"We need water," Gov. Gerry Brown said today. "We're gonna have to get water."
There have no been no fewer than a dozen raging wildfires, from Idaho and Oregon to Arizona, Washington and Nevada.
The Bully Fire in Northern California chewed through 10-square miles and destroyed eight homes. The landscape has become a tinderbox and water reservoirs are now bone dry. About 2,200 firefighters have been working hard to keep https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UqSm2OQEnw the flames away.
In today's announcement, officials in California announced that it is illegal to let sprinkler systems flow into the street, hose down sidewalks and driveways or use an open hose to wash your car.
"I think my husband has been guilty of coming out late at night and doing a little secre tive watering underneath the trees," resident Pam Ferko said.
Scofflaws faced fines of up to $500 a day.
Previously, residents had ignored the governor's pleas to cutback - statewide, water usage actually went up - so now Californians are being encouraged to rat out their neighbors.
"Our water complaint calls have gone up exponentially from the last two years," said Terrance Davis of the state's Department of Utilities.
Lawn sprinklers and car washes aren't the only culprits though.
Agriculture uses 80 percent of the state's water. The drought is projected to cost $2 billion in crop losses this year, which will mean higher food prices nationwide.
If you've got a lawn and hate to mow, beware the lawn service "ghosts."
"Ghosting" is an insiders' term used by lawn care professionals to describe workers who promise to come out and treat a homeowner's lawn but who don't actually do any work.
Homeowners who've been ghosted will find service flags stuck in their lawn and a receipt in their mailbox, but not much else. Complaints about ghosting and the "splash and dash" -- which is like ghosting, except a little bit of fertilizer or herbicide is thrown around -- abound on online lawn care forums.
Some consumers are catching on. More than 3,500 complaints were filed last year in the Better Business Bureau network against various lawn care services, including gripes about shoddy workmanship, contract issues or problems with billing and collections.
"Either the grass [problem] is not 'cured' or the lawn is not any better than before they came ... or the contract is never-ending, so they get stuck in that long- term contract," said Steve Bernas, CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, citing some common complaints.
David Feeney of Land O' Lakes, Fla., caught a lawn ghoster shortly after installing a home security camera in 2010. On the video he posted to YouTube, which stops and starts when motion is detected, an employee from a lawn service can be seen driving up to Feeney's house, placing a flag in the yard, knocking on the front door and leaving without doing any work, as he looks over his shoulder.
"The lawn really looked g reat, and I think that Sprinkler System Mckinney was probably why the guy decided http://www.sprinkler.com/ not to do anything," Feeney told the ABC News Fixer. "It was a Friday afternoon. Maybe he wanted to get done early and go have a beer.
"I was pretty shocked," Feeney added.
After Feeney examined the video - and the $42 bill for the nonexistent service - he complained to the lawn service, which apologized, withdrew the bill and let him cancel his account.
Bernas of the BBB said it's tough to prove "ghosting" without crouching behind the curtains or installing a security camera. "It's a spray," Bernas said. "How can you tell?"
Consumers need to check out the company and know exactly what they're signing up for - and not agree to a plan over the phone without first seeing a contract, Bernas said.
Are you having a lawn service problem? Tell it to the ABC News Fixer by CLICKING HERE.
Here are some tips for keeping your lawn and your wallet green:
Be specific. Do you just need mowing services, or are you looking for fertilizing, weeding, aerating - the whole gamut?
Find out what products and brands will be used and research the safety of any pesticides or herbicides. Are there any precautions for children, pregnant women, the elderly or pets? Ask about using less harmful alternatives.
Request a yard inspection and estimate before agreeing to anything. Be wary of anyone who will quote a price for elaborate lawn work without seeing your yard first.
Check reviews online. Get recommendations from family and friends. Talk with neighbors who have nice lawns.
Get written estimates from at least three companies.
Understand the contract. Are you paying for each mow or by the week? Does it include special services like edging or pest control? Who takes away the clippings? And what happens if it rains -- do they skip that week?
This is a big one: Does the contract automatically renew from season to season and year to year? If you aren't happy, what are your cancellation rights? Does the company offer a guarantee?
Make sure the company meets local licensing requirements a nd has liability insurance for its workers. Ask whether they use subcontractors.
Saves money - because you do not have to replace it yearly
Save time and labor yearly
Protect the environment - no need to use chemical grass and weed sprays
Retains moisture in the ground
Cons
Keeping the brick chips contained
Credit: Southerngirl09The Benefits of Landscaping With Brick Chips
Using brick chips as landscaping mulch will not only save you time and money, it will also add interest to your landscape beds.
I enjoy lawn work, and I enjoy gardening. What I don't enjoy is pulling grass and weeds. I have tried many ways to stop the growth of grass and weeds in my landscape beds. What I have not used, and what I will not use, are chemical sprays. When our home was built, the landscaping contractor placed hardwood mulch in all of the beds in the yard, including the foundation beds.
Once the hardwood mulch started to deteriorate, my husband didn't want to replace it with more wood mulch. There were several reasons for his decision. His first reason was that he felt that wood mulch seemed to attract more insects and bugs. Secondly, if the hardwood mulch contained any pine, it would be an invitation for termites. Thirdly, a couple of years ago, we read an article stating that some hardwood mulch was made by mulching old shipping pallets. The article went on to say that these pallets could have had many different items shipped on them, including any or all types of chemicals. After reading about the chemicals, we decided we did not want hardwood mulch in our landscaping beds any more.
Our last custom built house was a contemporary rancher. We used white rocks all around the house, and in a large area landscaped with multi size rocks. Not the usual style house built in Virginia, but we liked it. We called it our middle life crisis house. Anyway, I digress; we found that by having the rock all around the house, it helped to protect the foundation, kept away grass and weeds, and we liked the look.
Our current house, however, is not a contemporary house, so we needed something else. After looking around, we found two possible items to use for mulch. One product was lava rock, and the other product for consideration was red brick chips. We decided on the red brick chips, and we are very pleased with the results.
The areas we decided to use the brick chips in are the beds that surround the house, where we have foundation shrubs planted. Brick chips are not practical for areas where you want to dig, and plant your annual flowers. They are hard to move, and they should be considered as permanent mulch. While they can be moved, it would be quite a job.
Pl an Before Installing Brick Chips as Mulch
The only con I listed about brick chips is containing them. Since I didn't want them in the grass, then I needed to devise a method to contain them. My solution was an easy fix for me. On the sides and the back of the house, I simply installed bricks that blended in with the brick chips and our foundation bricks. I dug a shallow trench in which to set the narrow side of the bricks in, and I laid the bricks end-to-end long ways. Setting the bricks this way, made a nice border to keep the brick chips contained. Also, this solid row of bricks makes trimming the grass with the string trimmer easy.
On the front of my house, a sidewalk runs in front of one of the shrub beds. Installing the brick chips there was easy, since the sidewalk acted as the barrier for holding in the brick chips. Sometimes, after a hard rain, a few of the pieces will wash out onto the sidewalk, but they can easily be pushed back. The other side, on the front of the house, presented more of a challenge. This shrub bed is much larger, it is rounded on two sides, and these sides have no barrier to keep the brick chips in place. One side of this shrub bed backs up to the house foundation. And the other side of this shrub bed borders the front stoop, the front steps, and a large concrete pad, which adjoins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox7DicTda0I the sidewalk. Around the grass side of the shrub bed, I have liriope planted. So, just behind the liriope, I installed some of the plastic edging to keep the brick chips contained.
Credit: Southerngirl09Find a Supply of Brick Chips
When I first started this project, the brick chips were being sold in bags by one of the home improvement stores in my area. This was easy; I could easily borrow my son-in-law's truck, and I could haul what I needed, when I needed it. Just as I was ready to complete the project, the home improvement store stopped selling the bagged brick chips. I called around, and I found that landscapers in the area, who sold wood mulch, also carried the brick chips. But in order to purchase the brick chips from them, I would have to buy them by the ton, and they would have to be delivered. That meant an increase in cost for the brick chips. Plus, I would have to move them from the pile, to the bed, using a wheelbarrow. And if I shoveled the brick chips from the wheelbarrow, that would entail more https://www.ideaspectrum.com/home-landscaping-software/ backbreaking labor. My daughter is one of those people who can find just about anything, so she took over the job, and she found that a local Southern States store carried them in bags. So, I was all set to complete this job.
Before installing brick chips as mulch, be sure to pull or dig up all grass and weeds in the area you are going to mulch.
Next, lay down newspapers, to prevent weeds or grass from growing. Use newspapers about five to six layers thick to cover the area where you will be putting down the brick chips, and be sure to overlap the edges. Another alternative to using the newspaper is kraft paper or cardboard. Be careful when cutting out the paper around the base of the plants, so as not to damage the shrub(s). While laying out the paper, use some bricks to keep it in place, since any small breeze can move it.
To place over the paper layer, purchase a high quality black landscape cloth, one that is guaranteed for the longest number of years. Be sure to overlap the fabric so there is no way for light to get through to encourage a weed seedling. As you lay out the landscaping cloth, move the bricks off the paper, and use them to anchor the landscape fabric, being carefu l not to tear the fabric. You can also purchase Landscape Anchor Pins (they look like large staples) to hold down the paper and fabric during installation. I prefer using the bricks since they can be used for many different jobs.
How to Install Brick Chips
Finally, add the brick chips. I use two to three inches of brick chips. Once you have covered the area with brick chips you are through. And I mean you are through! Every spring you can sit back, watch your neighbors haul wood mulch, and spread it. You will occasionally have to pull a small sprig of something that is trying to grow on top of the landscape fabric, but this is easy and not too frequent.
In Closing
Credit: Southerngirl09
I am pleased with my brick chips landscaping beds. I like the way they look. In my opinion, landscaping brick chips are a win-win fix to an age-old problem - getting rid of grass and weeds from landscaping beds.
You might also find the following do-it-yourself articles interesting.
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Every gardener and handyman or handywoman needs at least one of these multipurpose stools. I liked these carts so much that I have one outside for gardening, and I have another that I use inside the house. Oh, they make great gifts, too!
Irrigation sprinklers are sprinklers providing irrigation to agriculture, crops, vegetation, or for recreation, as a cooling system, or for the control of airborne dust, landscaping and golf courses. The sprinkler system irrigates the field and thus it is widely used in sandy areas as it checks the wastage of water through seepage and evaporation. Sprinkler irrigation is a method of applying irrig ation water which is similar to natural rainfall. Water is distributed through a system of pipes usually by pumping. It is then sprayed into the air through sprinklers so that it breaks up into small water drops which fall to the ground. The pump supply system, sprinklers and operating conditions must be designed http://rachio.com/ to enable a uniform application of water.
Contents
1 Types
1.1 Industrial
1.2 Residential
1.3 Underground Sprinkler
1.4 Agricultural Science
2 Use
3 Health risks from aerosols
4 Gallery
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Types
Industrial
Sprinklers that spray in a fixed pattern are generally called sprays or spray heads. Sprays are not usually designed to operate at pressures , due to misting problems that may develop.
Higher pressure sprinklers that themselves move in a circle are driven by a ball drive, g ear drive, or impact mechanism (impact sprinklers). These can be designed to rotate in a full or partial circle.
Rainguns are similar to impact sprinkler, except that they generally operate at very high pressures of 40 to 130lbf/in (275 to 900 kPa) and flows of 50 to 1200 US gal/min (3 to 76 L/s), usually with nozzle diameters in the range of 0.5 to 1.9inches (10 to 50mm). In addition to irrigation, guns are used for industrial applications such as dust suppression and logging.
Many irrigation sprinklers are buried in the ground along with their supporting plumbing, although above ground and moving sprinklers are also common. Most irrigation sprinklers operate through electric and hydraulic technology and are grouped together in zones that can be collectively turned on and off by actuating a solenoid-controlled valve.
Residential
An oscillating sprinkler is commonly used to water residential lawns, and is moved as needed.
Home lawn sprinklers vary widely in their size, cost, and complexity. They include impact sprinklers, oscillating sprinklers, drip sprinklers, and underground sprinkler systems. Small sprinklers are available at home and garden stores or hardware stores for small costs. These are often attached to an outdoor water faucet and are placed only temporarily. Other systems may be professionally installed permanently in the ground and are attached permanently to a home's plumbing system. An in genious domestic sprinkler made by Nomad called a 'set-and-forget tractor sprinkler' was used in Australia in the 1950s. Water pressure ensured that the sprinkler slowly moved across a lawn.[1]
Permanently installed systems may often operate on timers or other automated processes. They are occasionally installed with retractable heads for aesthetic and practical reasons (making damage during lawn mowing or other maintenance less likely). These often are programmed to operate on a schedule and irrigate a piece of land in zones.[2]
Underground Sprinkler
Underground sprinklers function through means of basic electronic and hydraulic technology. This valve and all of the sprinklers that will be activated by this valve are known as a zone. Upon activation, the solenoid, which sits on top of the valve is magnetized lifting a small stainless steel plunger in its center. By doing this, the activated (or raised) plunger allows air to escape from the top of a rubber diaph ragm located in the center of the valve. Water that has been charged and waiting on the bottom of this same diaphragm now has the higher pressure and lifts the diaphragm. This pressurized water is then allowed to escape down stream of the valve through a series of pipes, usually made of PVC (higher pressure commercial systems) or polyethylene pipe (for typically lower pressure residential systems). At the end of these pipes and flush to ground level (typically) are pre measured and spaced out sprinklers. These sprinklers can be fixed spray heads that have a set pattern and generally spray between 1.5-2m (7-15ft.), full rotating sprinklers that can spray a broken stream of water from 6-12m (20-40ft.), or small drip emitters that release a slow, steady drip of water on more delicate plants such as flowers and shrubs. use of indigenous materials also recommended.[3]
Agricultural Science
Center pivot irrigation sprinkler nozzles, used in crop irrigation
Rotator style pivot applicator sprinkler
End Gun style pivot applicator sprinkler
The first use of sprinklers by fa rmers was some form of home and golf course type sprinklers. These ad hoc systems, while doing the job of the buried pipes and fixed sprinkler heads, interfered with cultivation and were expensive to maintain. In the 1950s a firm based in Portland, Oregon Stout-Wyss Irrigation System, developed the rolling pipe type irrigation system for farms that has become the most popular type for farmers irrigating large fields. With this system large wheels attached to the large pipes with sprinkler heads move slowly across the field.[4]
Use
Most irrigation sprinklers are used as part of a sprinkler system, consisting of various plumbing parts, pump unit,[5] piping and control equipment. Outdoor sprinkler systems are sometimes used as a deterrent against homeless people. This sprinkler system was programmed to drench unsuspecting sleepers at random times during the night. Local businessmen soon copied this system in an effort to drive homeless people away from public sidewalks ad jacent to their businesses.[6]
Health risks from aerosols
In 2014, it was reported that use of common garden hoses in combination with spray nozzles may generate aerosols containing droplets smaller than 10 ?m, which can be inhaled by nearby people. Water stagnating in a hose between uses, especially when warmed by the sun, can host the growth and interaction of Legionella and free-living amoebae (FLA) as biofilms on the inner surface of the hose. Clinical cases of Legionnaires' disease or Pontiac fever have been found to be associated with inhalation of garden hose aerosols containing Legionella bacteria. The report provides measured microbial densities resulting from controlled hose conditions in order to quantify the human health risks. The densities of Legionella spp. identified in two types of hoses were found to be similar to those reported during legionellosis outbreaks from other causes. It is proposed that the risk could be mitigated by draining hoses after us e.[7]
Gallery
An underground sprinkler system about to be installed
Irrigation sprinkler watering crops.
Irrigation sprinkler
An oscillating sprinkler watering a lawn
A overhead sprinkler
Sprinkler for children
Play media
An irrigation sprinkler in action
Crop sprinklers near Rio Vista, California
See also
Drip irrigation
Irrigation
Sprinkler system timer
References
^ The Ride family's 'Nomad' brand tractor lawn sprinkler, National Museum of Australia
^ Sprinkler 101
^ Howser, Huell (November 8, 2010). "Rainbird - California's Gold (12002)". California's Gold. Chapm an University Huell Howser Archive.
^ Irrigation Pipe On Wheels Move Across Fields, July 1950 Popular Science, bottom of page 114
^ Davis, Mike (2006). City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles. London: Verso. p.233. ISBN978-1-84467-568-5.
^ Thomas, Jacqueline M.; Thomas, Torsten; Stuetz, Richard M.; Ashbolt, Nicholas J. (2014). "Your Garden Hose: A Potential Health Risk Due toLegionellaspp. Growth Facilitated by Free-Living Amoebae". Environmental Science & Technology. 48 (17): 10456-10464. ISSN0013-936X. doi:10.1021/es502652n.
External links
The dictionary definition of irrigation sprinkler at Wiktionary
As summer winds down and the kids are going back to school, most people aren't thinking about their lawns. However, as master gardener William Moss pointed out on "The Early Show" Friday, this is exactly the time of year people should be thinking about growing greener grass for the next year.
Moss said the work you put in now will save you time, effort and money next spring. And while most people are out trying to establish grass in the cold, wet month of April, he said you can kick back and watch it grow.
So why is now a good time for lawn care?
Moss gave these three reasons:
o Lawns are depleted after a summer of growing, mowing, foot traffic, and pet stops
o Cooler weather encourages root growth in perennials like daylily, hosta, and turfgrass.
o Like with daffodils and tulips, effort now yields great results in spring
To help your green grass grow in the spring, Moss suggested using aeration techniques. Aeration, h e explained, reduces compaction, allows more oxygen to reach the roots, and breaks up the thatch layer.
Moss explained grubs hatch in early fall and begin to feed on turf roots, so it's important to get the grubs Sprinkler System Installation Greenville now to reduces next year's bad bugs. He suggested opting for organic certified chemicals and/or biological controls.
As for seeding, Moss said you should sow grass seed now, so the seeds can germinate without weed competition. You should buy quality grass seed, he said, adding online sources have lots of variety for homeowners.
"Weeds are dying (while the) grass is still actively growing," he told CBS News. "That will over shadow the weeds, choking them out in the spring."
For more with master gardener William Moss, visit his Web site.
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Be specific. Do you just need mowing services, or are you looking for fertilizing, weeding, aerating - the whole gamut?
Check reviews online. Get recommendations from family and friends. Talk with neighbors who have nice lawns.
Credit: Southerngirl09The Benefits of Landscaping With Brick Chips
Credit: Southerngirl09Find a Supply of Brick Chips
Credit: Southerngirl09
Play media
The dictionary definition of irrigation sprinkler at Wiktionary
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