Winter Watering: Avoiding Plumbing Problems With Regular Water Schedule

In Colorado, you never know what the weather might entail. One day can
be warm and sunny, while the next brings in the cold and snow. Not only
is hard for our bodies to keep up with the temperature demands, its also
hard on our landscaping.

While it may be easy to forget, winter watering is just as important to
your outside plants as watering is during the summer months. Colorado
winters may bring cold temperatures during the nighttime, but daylight
can find extended warm, dry, windy spells that dry out your plants, trees
and bushes.

By mid to end of October, your sprinkler systems and
hoses should all be turned off and disconnected. But watering shouldn’t
stop there. Keep your hoses within reach for the months of November through
March. If four weeks elapse without rain or snow accumulation, its time
to hook up the hose and provide water to your landscaping.

Make sure you water in the mid morning to early afternoon hours to give
water a chance to soak into the ground before nightly freezes. Water for
about 30 minutes in each location. For trees, water between the edge of
the branches halfway to the tree trunk, which is where tree roots absorb
the most water.

Especially in older houses where trees are older and have a larger root
system, they can be your number one problem with outside plumbing issues.
If trees and bushes don’t have the water they need, they will search
out a source. And often times the source becomes your water main or sewer
line. Tree roots will bear into these pipes in search of water, causing
tiny cracks within the pipes themselves. As the tiny cracks turn into
larger ones, your home is at risk for major plumbing issues.

To avoid plumbing problems down the road, schedule your winter watering
schedule. Your home and landscaping will thank you.