Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Rain, Snow, Sleet & Sun

More snow?!?!?
Can you believe it? It snowed again. The second snowiest April in Sioux City history. It just seems a little crazy to all of us who are itching for spring to arrive.

Looking on the bright side, our area has moved from "Exceptional Drought Conditions" to a more "Moderate to Severe" level. This is great news for area landscapes and farmers. Also in the good news category, I heard an agronomist on the news saying that in that full 10 days of moisture we had, there was virtually no run-off. You could about hear the trees heaving a sigh of relief when those first early rains started to soak in.

Although we humans are sick of the dreary weather, it will be for the best in the long run. If we can get a dry enough run here (and the forecast looks promising!) the farmers can get their crops in, followed by another period of rain we will be practically golden. So hang tight! It is all for the greater good!

Many of you are dying to get out into your yard, get the sprinkler running and all those things that tell you that summer is on the way. Don't get into too much of a hurry. Give your yard the opportunity to dry out a litte and dig those roots in deep to look for water. If you start your watering before your grass even needs it you set yourself up for surface roots. I know we have covered that before, but I know some of you haven't listened yet, because every year we see you watering in ways that make us crazy! Besides, as of today, our techs were finding ice in valve boxes located on the north side of properties. Frozen sprinklers won't run. If the forecast holds true we will finally get some sunny and warm days. (Hooray!) The trees are going to explode with color and the grass is going start it's growth cycle. Keep in mind that even though the sun is shining and everything is coming out of dormancy, watering is not an immediate need. So be patient, the season has just begun.

One final note - If you didn't get your spring fertilizer on before all this wet weather, be sure to get your sprinkler up and running before you apply the chemicals. Every year we get a handful of calls from panicked individuals who have fertilized and then discovered that have a non-functioning irrigation system. We encounter such a huge volume of calls in the spring, the odds of us getting your call picked up within the "water in 24 hours" window are slim to none. So this year, do us both a favor and make sure your system works before you break out the fertilizer spreader.

Keep it Green -





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