Just curious as to why I don't see many underground sprinkler systems in developments? Same reason as no -basements?(soil?) How do ya'll keep your grass watered/green in the summer? We have new construction and will need to plant grass or lay sod(but with sprinkler system we fear it would burn up). Any suggestions? Should we get topsoil beforehand? Up north it was almost "standard" in most neighborhoods to keep your grass green, so this is new to us not to see many around.
I don't know anything about the soil, or when you moved here, but as far as water sprinklers (aka irrigation) a lot of people do have it, but because of the drought and water restrictions they haven't been using it. We stopped using ours I think last August, and don't know when we'll use it again.
Basements... Much of Eastern NC is WET & FLAT, our water table is high and a hole dug on a flat lot becomes a POOL of stinky water very fast. Our home is on a sloped lot and we have a dry basement. Plus digging a basement (& Keeping it DRY) is another cost that most builders do not plan for.
Rain & Centipede No rain it turns brown, rains it turns green! Not wasting precious resources that way. Why waste money on a sprinkler system you are not going to be able to use most of the time?
I read this article in my Reader's Digest this morning... http://www.rd.com/special-reports/the-environment/americas-water-shortage-crisis/article55731.html Just because we've had some rain this spring doesn't mean we're guaranteed to have rain this summer. I sure hope people don't go water crazy (washing cars, watering lawns) since the restrictions have been eased somewhat, cause we sure don't know what's in store for us in the coming months!
We HAD a centipede lawn but I don't know if it's going to be able to make a comeback after last year's heat and drought... it looks really bad. :-(
We've got Bermuda and it's almost all green. My advice on the grass...we spent (wasted) a ton on $$ 6 years ago on Fescue, even though we kept it watered like we were supposed to (and my DH is Mr. yard man) it ended up burning up a couple of years ago. That stuff was so high maintenance...then we put Bermuda sod in the back when we got the pool 3 years ago and ended up planting seeds of Bermuda in the front two years ago. My front is already as full and thick as my back and the grass is just beautiful and thick. Very low maintenance and can withstand the drought and heat.
