What's Wrong with This Yard?
- Sprinkler is watering the driveway, not yard. Misdirected and broken sprinklers waste water and do not help your yard.
- Leaves raked into gutter. Yard debris pollutes waterways when it enters the stormwater system by smothering aquatic plants and carrying chemical residues. It also blocks stormdrains causing street flooding.
- Sprinkler in background is irrigating both lawn and plant bed. Plant beds and turf areas should be in separate zones. Grass is a high volume water user, while woody plants require much less. Use micro- or drip-irrigation systems for plant beds.
- Open hose draining down driveway. An open hose wastes hundreds of gallons of water. Always use a shut-off nozzle when using a hose and turn the water off at the faucet when finished.
- Open bag of fertilizer. Fertilizer left on impervious surfaces such as driveways and sidewalks washes into stormdrains and ends up in waterways. Fertilizer overloads waterways with nutrients causing algae blooms which can harm fish and wildlife.
- Watering at wrong time of day (note shadows). Watering the afternoon wastes water because most of it evaporates into the air versus ending up on your lawn. Irrigation restrictions prohibit watering between 10 am and 4 pm.