Lawn Sprinkler Valve Won't Turn Off

So you've started up your irrigation sytem and your Lawn Sprinkler Valve Won't Turn Off.  Now what do you do!  Why is it doing that?  Here is some insight into what is going on and what you or an irrigation contractor might be able to do about it, at least for the time being until you can get the system repaired.

Before you move on to calling a sprinkler repair service, see if you can turn off the backflow control valve.  What you're looking for is a green rectangular box that is about 14" x 18".  Inside this box you will usually find your backflow control valve.  The backflow control valve prevents back siphonage of hazardous waste into your drinking water (if you don't have one, you should consider having one installed).  If you can locate this valve, simply turn the valve to the off position.

Another valve that might be in the vicinity of the water main meter would be an emergency shutoff valve, which is a ball valve style shutoff point to isolate the entire sprinkler system water supply.  It is often installed in a circular valve box with a green lid, about 5.5" in diameter.  If you have a ball valve, it is likely to be located close to the water meter where the lawn irrigation system taps into the pvc or galvanized piping that is your water main.  If you have an emergency shutoff ball valve, simply turn it to the off position.  If you do not have a provision such as a ball valve to shut off your irrigation in an emergency or for winterization purposes, you may want to consider having one installed.

A third valve, which is actually the zone valve that is malfunctioning and staying stuck in the "on" position, is your zone valve.  These are often located in a round green box or in one rectangular green box in what is called a valve manifold setup.  If you can figure out where this valve is located, you can manually work the valve on and off to see if it seats and allows the system to shut down.  What is causing your problem is the fact that the valve is either old and faulty or it has debris in it which is not allowing it to seat and seal properly.

After trying all of the above, as a last resort, you can opt to turn off your water main.  I say last resort because you want some water pressure to your sprinkler system to see if you can get by without totally shutting down your water supply...don't you?  So to turn off the water main, locate your meter then turn the key to the off position.

Tuning up your irrigation for your yard in the spring can help to prevent system failure, particularly to prevent or preemptively diagnose issues where a zone valve that won't turn off.  Precautions should be taken in case of such failure, such as the installation of emergency plumbing water main shutoff ballvalve or a back flow preventer (which can be shut off).  Lastly, excercise caution when working around pressurized pvc pipes, faulty valves and wires as they may be hazardous.

Lawn Fertilization Service Needs Differ

Often times where a customer is seeking a ”better" lawn fertilization service company there are similar complaints that I hear and the grass is often literally greener on the other side.  I think the #1 complaint is “they are feeding my weeds”.  Another one is the more general statement that “there have been no improvements in my grass”.  The question then is why can’t the more commonly known treatment services in Columbia, S.C. address these issues with every customer?  This question boils down to suitability where one service might be fine for one customer but not for another.  In addition, I believe the answer is that the more commercial treatment services in many cases:

·         Are not the correct fit for every customer’s lawn or every customer’s personality or style of communication.  Some accounts call for a more personalized, unique approach.

·         Have become “Price” driven in the minds of the customer and not quality driven.  The current market cost of service is roughly half of what it should cost for an effective long term program. 

·         They have a better marketing program than the actual physical service.  If they were to effectively go over the laundry list of items below it would result in less sales.

·         Are employing low paid, unskilled workers who do not take stock in the outcome.

·         Have caused the customer base in general to lower their expectations as to the definition of high quality service and outcome. 

·         Taken true personalization of service to you and your lawn out of the equation.  Timely, constructive, thoughtful consultations are needed (and that costs more money, which is a tough sale).

·         Fallen short in advising of the necessary, comprehensive regimen that is needed for any plant to grow.  It takes more than just a sprinkle of chemicals.

An effective lawn fertilization schedule and weed control treatment program should include the treatments that these companies provide, but equally as important, should advise of the need for proper lawn mowing service, a regular fall cleanup schedule, serious consideration to the type of grass that you are trying to maintain, core aeration, and a routine lawn sprinkler system watering regimen.

Fit, suitability and communication are other important fine points – Some yards are so personalized and unique that some treatments will work in some places, but not in others.  Take the slopey yard that is shady in some areas but sunny in others where the dog is allowed in the back yard but not the front for instance…here is an example of how anything short of the resident taking care of the yard on a highly personalized level would almost always be ineffective.  It is nearly impossible to delegate this out to any service other than a grounds keeper.  Suitability where one company’s cookie cutter approach works on the standard lawn but not on the more garden-like grounds is a consideration…does the service suit your unique needs?  Sometimes, retaining a service that will communicate with you on the level that you and your yard require should cost you more.  Sometimes, the company should refer you to another company that would fit your specific need better instead of accepting your business, knowing logically it will probably end up in failure…but hey, they’re not worried about it because you just signed a contract with them and you’re on the hook to pay them for the duration.

Maintaining a lawn properly requires attention to the plant as a living breathing organism.  Treatments do matter, but of equal importance are the intricacies of how the lawn is being mowed, how often, with what type of equipment and at what height.  Does your landscape maintenance service mulch mow or do they bag?  Often times, bagging the clippings is literally the same as taking a little of your lawn’s health away every time they mow.  It robs the ground of micronutrients and will eventually lead to the declination of the turf.  Bagging is necessary sometimes, especially when you are planning an event where it needs to “look” its best, but definitely not on every mowing.  Of equal importance is the height of mow, which should not be any more than 1/3 of the height of the grass.  This is a price driven item...most people here in South Carolina opt for bi-weekly service which often times causes that 1/3^rd cut rule to be broken.  To achieve the goal of optimal turf grass, you must consider whether to have your service done weekly or bi-weekly.  Refraining from cutting at all is also a consideration.  Here in South Carolina, we tend to have droughts for 5-7 week periods of time.  It is during those dry/hot times that your service should refrain from cutting in some cases.  This is another money driven item – if your service is being paid a flat monthly fee, then they are going to try to mow no matter what on a set schedule to “make their showing” and earn their keep.  This is often the case where the person doing the work is the owner of the company who’s income is directly affected.  Alternately, some companies employ hourly paid workers who are trained to “pass” on the mowing.  The company then does not charge for that particular day’s service.  The company owner’s income is affected by this non-mowing, but the worker’s pay is not as affected.  In the end, the goal is to look out for the grass as a living organism, not a commodity.

At about the time that everyone is putting their lawn mower away around October 15^th, it is actually time to switch gears and think about the fall cleanup schedule.  This applies to your yard if you have deciduous trees or pine trees, gumball trees, or any other tree that will lose its leaves or sticks in the fall.  All this debris coming down on the ground can wreak havoc on the root systems of the turf.  Instead of waiting until all the debris has fallen, it is best to have this fall cleanup on a regimen just like the mowing schedule. 

Some plants grow well in some places, but not so well in others.  The biggest problem I see is where people expect the chemicals to remedy situations where there is very little sunlight or too much shade.  This would call for a different type of grass altogether, not a different treatment service.  This is a tough pill to swallow for most people because its one of those situations where the building contractor threw down a general type of grass, often centipede or Bermuda, in an area that called for Zoysia.  Or in the case where initially, the type of grass they used was great because the trees were new and small, but over time the trees grew large and shaded out the ground below.  The hard and fast truth of the matter is that you would then need to either cut down the trees or rip up the sod and start with a new type of lawn.  No treatment in the world will do this.

Core aeration is another costly item that is needed to complete the circle.  This applies mostly to areas that have high traffic or the underlying topsoil area is thin.  It also applies if you use heavy riding mowers as opposed to push mowers which are light and don’t affect the compaction of the soil.  If your yard needs core aeration badly enough, you would be completely wasting your money if you were to treat it and expect a positive outcome.  Aeration is another extremely labor intensive item that has fallen victim to recessionary lowballing trends.  For the labor and equipment involved, an effective aeration service should be in the hundreds of dollars for the average yard.   

Do you have a sprinkler system?  If not, there’s a fly in the ointment.  Modern grasses require controlled irrigation on a set schedule unless it is raining for us.  If you want a positive outcome from your lawn fertilization service, it is absolutely necessary that you water your lawn regularly.  Not only regularly but effectively – is that water reaching the necessary root system depth?  If not, you need to saturate it more.  If you have sandy soil, you may need to water more often.  All of these things should be addressed on a professional level.  The end result of your watering in most cases should be that the dirt, to the touch, is ever so slightly moist and seldom let to dry out completely.  Its an art though!  At times, especially when fungus is a threat, you should let it dry out a bit more than usual. 

So, in defense of the more widely known treatment services out there, don’t hold it all against them if your yard doesn’t look any better.  Do consider, though, that they should be advising you on all levels (and charging you) and that you get what you pay for.  Comprehensive lawn care overall (unless you have some really intricate chemical balance issues) is done by companies that not only treat the yard but also do the physical maintenance on the yard. 

Managing Crape Murder

A while back, I did an article on how to prune crape myrtles.  Since here in Columbia and Lexington South Carolina it is best to take care of these tree like bushes in February, before they begin to bud for the spring, I thought I'd post an update and some fresh thoughts on how to manage crapes...particularly, crapes that have been previously hacked on improperly.

One finer point that goes deeper on the subject than the usual "prune to train, prune off the spent pods only, don't hack on the large limbs" is what to do if the tree has simply gotten too big for the area or for your taste.  These things grow very fast and before you know it you do have a big tree to deal with.  Even if your crape myrtles have been perfectly manicured every February and it is now just too big, then what?  No level of perfect cut is going to remedy the fact that you are now forced to either remove the tree altogether (gasp!) or go against all principles and commit crape murder (egad!).  This situation is similar to camellias, where the bush has gotten so large that it is starting to look like a popsicle.  So how to make the best of the situation. 

I propose that you consider taking the whole tree down to the quick.  Leaving a stump about 2" high...high enough to clear mulch but low enough to where it is not obvious.  After you chainsaw it down, you then keep it watered and hope for the best.  If you have any shooters with leaves you might want to leave those on until you get more shooters out of the stump.  Then when those remaining shooters are no longer needed for their sunlight intake, you cull them to the quick.  What were hoping for here is that the robust root system of your precious family heirloom firecracker red crape myrtle will quickly send up new shoots out of what is now a stump.  The likeliness of this happening is quite high as, again, crapes are like weeds. 

After a season or two, you then pick the shoots (4+ feet tall by now) that you like the most.  You cultivate them to go in the direction you want and prune off the rest.  It depends upon the situation but I recommend cultivating no more than 5 shoots which will one day be large (keep that in mind).  So there's a potential solution to crape myrtles that have gotten too large and messy...

Another fine point of crape myrtle management is what to do with the large unsightly knots that have formed on the ends of the limbs as a result of previous crape murder.  Speaking as one who's eyes practically burn when I see something like this, I propose that instead of paying somebody an hourly rate to tediously cut off every shoot from last year's growth, that, since you've already entered into the improper management cycle of crape murder, you cut  this time just under the large knot area into fresh stump.  This leaves a cleaner look; as clean as it can get.  And sure, year after year of this will lower that precious, smooth trunk, but it does look better than leaving the knots and eventually it'll be down to the ground as previously proposed as an initial cut.

As always, if I can be of assistance, let me know!
-ash, Busy Bee Lawn Care & Sprinkler Repair