What maintenance do my sprinkler heads require?

All your sprinkler heads should be thoroughly checked when your system is turned on in the spring. Many of our customers like us to turn their systems on, so they can rest assured that their system gets a professional checkup at least once a season. For the balance of the season, we recommend that you turn on and check each zone at least once a month.
The simplest and most critical aspect of maintenance is to ensure that the nozzles of the sprinkler heads are not clogged. Check each zone by using the manual advance button on your controller. Look at each sprinkler head to see that the spray is even and shooting the right distance. Gear heads rarely get clogged, but the small orifice in spray heads often trap small grains of sand or organic material that can reduce or completely stop the flow of water. Cleaning generally involves removing the nozzle from the shaft of the head, removing the retainer and tapping out the dirt. We often use a paper clip to dislodge grains of sand that are wedged in the orifice.
New systems require very little maintenance, but as your landscape grows and changes, the sprinkler heads may need to be moved or adjusted to be more effective. All the sprinkler heads that we install can be adjusted for distance and volume. Fixed spray sprinkler heads have diverse families of nozzles to meet almost any configuration of lawn and landscape. Gear heads also have many nozzle types and their arcs can be individually adjusted to the application they were designed for. Adjusting or “fine tuning” your sprinkler heads ensures that all the various lawn and landscape areas of your yard get the precise amount of water they need. If you would like more information on adjusting the sprinkler heads in your system, check the product data on our web site or the manufacturer’s web site.