The Worst Thing About Spring is Figuring Out the Sprinkler System
Why do lawn irrigation systems have to be so darned hard to program? If you'd rather have crispy grass than spend an hour of your life trying to make it work right, you are not alone.
Maybe you've had your sprinkler system turned off all winter like I have, and now that spring is officially here you're cringing at the thought of having to mess with it again. It always takes longer than we think it will. One ON-OFF switch would be nice, but most sprinkler systems have the big dial of doom that makes you go around and around to set each watering station to a certain day of the week, and length to sprinkle.
If you just want to test one station, does your system let you do it? It's supposed to. But I'll turn mine to "station 8" or something, and then back to "on" like the instructions say and nothing happens. Ever! I try to help it along by standing there and staring at it and waiting, but all I get is the beginnings of an early season sunburn. To set all of those stations to come on, one right after the other for twelve minutes per station on a Tuesday at 4am, is just too much fiddling for those of us that don't have degrees in lawn equipment. And you know one of the stations is going to be broken and it will flood the sidewalk. And another station will pop up and surprise you and drench you while you're on the way to fix it. You win, sprinkler system, you win.
I know there are smart systems out now with apps that simplify this whole process and that just sounds like the best thing ever (aside from finding a guy on Tinder to become my yard boy). If you can control lawn-watering from your phone, you are my hero. The rest of us who have clunky, older systems will be getting sunburned and wind-blown while you've got your feet up on the ottoman.
Spring will be great! Especially if it rains a ton and we don't have to ever turn on the sprinkler system.