Winter is here, which means cold mornings, warm days, and cold nights. While you're putting on and taking off your jacket, take a look at your lawn. It's dormant but still needs some attention. This blog goes over how to water grass during our not-so-brutal Florida winter.

A healthy lawn needs about an inch of water a week, and in the winter, Mother Nature isn't providing much rain, so it's up to your irrigation system, which means making some adjustments.

Before you start fiddling with the controller in the garage, go outside and check out the lawn. What are the blades trying to tell you? If they're folded in half and look a little blue, your property needs water. Then take a walk on it; if you can see your steps 30 minutes later, the lawn is telling you to turn those sprinklers on.

If you last set up your system a while ago, there's a chance your lawn is getting too much water. Look for weeds; Chickweed, Shepherd's Purse, or Speedwell, to name a few. If these ugly things thrive in front of your home, it's time to use less water. Once a week is usually good this time of year.

Here's another reason to dial back your irrigation system, overwatering now can also lead to significant problems in the spring. Too much water forces oxygen out of the soil, damaging and even killing your lawn's root system.

Remember your sprinklers. Make sure they all work correctly and are spraying where they should. Take a walk around your yard while they pop up to see where they point, and look out for any obstructions that may have grown near the heads since your last check.

We know that your irrigation timer can be intimidating equipment; all those switches and that display-yikes! It's a system you must master in this year-long job of keeping a healthy lawn.

Irrigation is a big part of what we do at ELT Landscape. Our pros install and maintain hundreds of irrigation systems every year and are the experts on all the grasses and soil that cover Central Florida.

We would love to ensure that your irrigation system is working this winter so that you won't have to replace your plants and install new turf in the spring.