Las Vegas Watering Tips
Watering in Las Vegas Nevada is allowed daily from May 1 through Aug. 31, but that doesn’t mean you need to drown your yard or even water every day. Starting Sept. 1 through October 31, watering is restricted to three days per week.
Water in early-morning hours before sunrise to lessen water lost to evaporation and daytime winds. Mid-day watering is prohibited from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from May 1 until Oct. 1. Night water encourages fungal diseases.
Apply mulch to the ground around heat sensitive plants to keep the roots cooler and prevent evaporation.
Irrigation materials and methods can vary greatly, so make sure to consult with your landscape professional for proper irrigation frequency and cycle lengths.
Control insect pests like roaches, ants, black widows, earwigs and sow (roly-poly) bugs with chemical or pyrethrin based insecticides. When using any pesticide, read complete instructions and follow package directions exactly!
Prevent and control Spider Mites on evergreens like cypress, juniper and pines by using a high pressure hose to wash the foliage every 2-3 weeks. Symptoms include a dusty, off color or rust colored appearance and fine webbing on the foliage. Apply a miticide like malathion or acephate if infestation becomes severe, make sure to read complete instructions and follow package directions exactly!
For a nonpesticide alternative to getting rid of aphids and other pests, spray plants with a strong blast of water from your hose. You’ll knock bugs off and damage or drown many of them. Or, buy beneficial “predator” bugs like ladybugs at nurseries and set them loose to attack aphids and let nature run its course.
Kill unwanted Bermuda grass that has appeared this summer. It’s your last chance to control before the dormant period sets in. Once dormant, Bermuda is unaffected by herbicides.
Lawn Tips
Avoid mowing your lawn too low during times of intense heat or drought. Give your lawn a break by letting it grow just a little longer. Whenever you mow, never cut more than one-third the height of the grass blade to help your lawn stay healthy. Recommended mowing heights are 2 1/2″ to 3″ for Tall Fescue and 3/4″ to 1 1/2″ for Bermuda. Make sure your mower blades are sharpened periodically. Dull blades actually damage the grass.
The most hated of weeds should be tackled in early fall for a better lawn next spring. They are germinating now and are easier to kill. Use a broadleaf weed killer, make sure to read complete instructions and follow package directions exactly!
An extremely dry lawn becomes hydrophobic, or water-repelling. Add a tablespoon of liquid soap to a gallon of water and drench the dried area. This breaks down the surface tension of the grass, making it hydrophilic, or water-loving. Then give it a good soaking.
Hand water brown spots and check your irrigation system. Lawns usually develop brown spots because of faults in the sprinkler system, such as mixed types of sprinkler heads, blocked spray patterns and improper spacing between sprinklers.
Be careful when applying herbicide to lawns during the hot days of summer. Make plans now to renovate the lawn. Early fall is the ideal time for core aeration and overseeding.
Plant and Tree Tips
More is not always better! Resist the temptation to water everything to death in the heat. Just because a plant “looks dry” does not mean it needs more water. If the soil is too often watered, the plant cannot breathe, and cannot take up the water in its soil.
Leaves usually are stressed for one of two reasons: improper watering or improper fertilization. Since both over watering and under watering can damage plant leaves, the best solution is to water deeply and infrequently. This allows oxygen in the soil, washes salts away and encourages deep rooting.
While drip irrigation is permitted any day of the week during summer, experts agree that running it a maximum of three days a week during warmer months is much better for plants than daily watering. The length of watering time for plants on drip systems varies depending on the type of emitter, plant types and soil conditions.
For most trees and shrubs older than three years, water deeply once every seven to 10 days (Run your drip system one to three hours to soak the root zone). Newer plants may need water twice as often until established. Add a layer of surface mulch 2- to 4-inches thick to conserve water between waterings and cool and enrich the soil.
Make sure you have the right fertilizer both for your specific plants and for the time of year. Some fertilizers release much faster in hot weather, increasing the potential for damage. Follow package directions exactly and err on the conservative side. Then, irrigate well to move nutrients to the soil.
Restrain yourself from pruning trees and shrubs right now. Wait until deciduous plants begin to lose their leaves, which signals dormancy. Pruning will encourage new growth which will not harden-off before the cold of winter arrives.
Give fruit trees a final feeding with low nitrogen, high phosphorus fertilizer to stimulate fruit buds for next spring. Feed shrubs and trees with complete, organic-based fertilizers to help them recover from summer stress and get ready for the winter.
Continue to care for the roses. Keep black spot in check with chemical spray. Remove spent blooms and you can extend flowering well into fall. Clean and feed roses to bring them from the summer blahs to the fall color show. Prune dead wood, spindly twigs and lightly shape the bush. Remove and discard all old leaves and other debris to prevent insect and disease problems.
Fall is the ideal time to transplant shrubs/trees. Do not transplant until the leaves have dropped on deciduous plants. Be sure to use a starter fertilizer high in phosphorous for root development.
Keep a record of what plants did well and those that did not do well. File it in a place you will remember so you can find the info next spring.
Article Credit: Excerpts and selected information provided by Southern Nevada Water Authority