Feeling Fall-ish? So Is Your Yard

The first day of fall was officially September 22. We are now in October, and you more than likely still have not started wearing sweaters and cozying up around a fire with a mug of cocoa. What you have done is notice that the weather has changed. It is less humid. Temperatures are cooling down (especially at night) and there are less hours of daylight. Your yard is reacting to these environmental changes by reducing growth. Reduced growth means your yard needs less food, which reduces its need for both irrigation and fertilization.

How you care for your yard should change with the seasons. If you keep watering just as much in the fall and winter as you did in the spring and summer, you may be causing more harm than good. Since plants and grass do not need to manufacture as much food as when they are in a growth cycle, they do not uptake as much water. If you keep watering, you only increase the amount of runoff from your yard. The cooler temperatures and reduced sunlight slow the evaporation rate, which means irrigation leads to leaves staying wet longer and more standing water, leading to fungal growth and disease. A simple way to tie your irrigation to the seasons is to change your sprinkler system controller every time you change your clocks. On November 1, we return to Eastern Standard Time, and you will turn your clocks back one hour. At the same time, you should turn your irrigation controller back so you water no more than once a week.

The fall and winter irrigation schedule (November 1 through March 14) limits irrigation to one day a week. The schedule, which covers all of Brevard county, limits odd-numbered residential addresses to Saturday irrigation; even-numbered residential addresses to Sunday irrigation; and, commercial and non-residential properties to Tuesday irrigation. In the city of Titusville, well water, city water, and reclaimed water all fall under the irrigation restrictions.