Are you worried that your wonderful yard or garden won't be able to cope up with the summer heat? Is watering restriction in your neighborhood? If you have a well-kept lawn, you probably don't want the summer months to turn your grass brown.

We've been in the yard care business for years, here are some of our tips for keeping things green this summer:

• Check the amount of water Mother Nature has provided prior to any watering plan. You can do this task by leaving a rain gauge device in your yard (or nowadays, checking online for the year to date rainfall in your area), so that accurate measurement will be derived on how much rainfall your lawn has received and help you decide wisely whether you still need to water or skip your watering schedule. If you don't have a rain gauge, improvise with the use of an empty tin can. Leave it in the yard and monitor if the amount of rainfall gathered have already reached the tip level of the can.
• Set a particular time of the day to water your lawn or garden. The best times to perform any watering activity are: early morning, before 9 a.m. or late in the evening. If you water during an extreme hot weather, water will just evaporate quickly. It would also be efficient to water when the wind isn't too strong to avoid wind drift.
• Position your water sprinklers or hose where they are needed most, taking careful attention of not setting them on driveways or patios because there is a possibility a big percentage of water being wasted as it flows on hard surfaces.
• Ask an expert landscape specialist to install an effective irrigation system. In most cases, soaker hoses are placed at the base of plants that emit water directly where it is needed. Some yard maintenance providers may suggest the use of drip irrigation and it could be really beneficial because water is channeled straight to the roots underneath the soil's surface layer.

Additional water conservation tips:
Frequent watering of your yard or garden might bring more damage, such as the development of fungus and other plant disease. Keep in mind that too much watering can also cause fertilizer leaching. Make it a habit to inspect your water hose or irrigation device for any signs of leakage or obstruction because any leak that goes unnoticed will result to water wastage and draining your pocket.

If there are any watering restrictions being implemented in your area, whether you are a resident of Oregon, Salem, or Wilsonville always follow the rules to avoid any penalties

In case you are in need of professional advice on yard care maintenance these summer months, McKenzie's Landscape caters to all, both residential and commercial landscaping needs. We're pretty good with those sometimes tricky sprinkler systems too, so let us know and we'd be happy to tinker around and see what we an do to set the right schedule or assess your non-working system.

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