January – You may need to hand water your lawn and trees once a month in the winter if we experience an extended dry period without snow and temperatures are consistently above 40 degrees.
February – Check indoor fixtures for leaks and fix right away. A small leak left unattended can account for hundreds of gallons of good, clean water lost in one billing period. See Denver Water’s drip table for more information.
March – Consider replacing an existing toilet with a high-efficiency model, which uses 1.28 gallons per flush or less. Denver Water offers rebates for new high-efficiency toilets. Check out our qualifying rebate information.
April – April is the perfect time to turn on your automatic sprinkler system and run each zone through a test cycle. Check for leaks or damaged and misaligned sprinkler heads. If you see runoff, reposition or replace the sprinkler heads to water only the grass. You’ll have plenty of time to fix any problems before irrigation season begins.
May – Set up a lawn-watering schedule, and to encourage long and strong root systems in your turf, postpone irrigation until the later part of the month. Watering rules do not allow watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
June – Keep your lawn mower blade height on the highest setting. Longer blades of grass will keep the soil cooler, so less moisture will be lost to evaporation from the soil surface. Sharp mower blades provide a clean cut so the grass blades do not brown up on the edges.
July – Add a layer of organic mulch around plants and trees to reduce evaporation and save hundreds of gallons of water a year. If you are adding or replacing flowers, shrubs, trees or turf, choose low-water loving species. “X-rated” low-water loving plants and trees are abundant in variety and availability at your local garden center. Ideas abound at the Denver Water Xeriscape demonstration garden.
August – Check your sprinkler system for leaks and broken sprinkler heads and have them repaired immediately. Often outdoor leaks are hidden or difficult to find, and they quickly increase your water bill and add no benefit to your lawn and garden.
September – Aerate and fertilize your lawn with a winterization fertilizer or a fertilizer containing more phosphorus, which keeps the root system healthy. During the fall months, grass stores nutrients for the approaching cold weather. Phosphorus (a common winter fertilizer ingredient) plays a key role in storing and transferring energy within a lawn’s root system and helps grass become more tolerant of diseases, heat, cold and drought.
October – Now is the perfect time to winterize your sprinkler system. Turn off the water, drain the valves and blow out the lines with compressed air. Also disconnect, drain and roll up garden hoses and put away.
November – Did you know a leaky toilet can waste more than 100,000 gallons of water a year? Check your toilet for leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring in the tank and waiting 5 to 10 minutes. If the color shows up in the toilet bowl, you have a leak.
December – Winter is the perfect time for making plans to add or modify your landscape to be more water-conserving. Consider low-water gardens that attract wildlife, such as butterflies or birds. Or work around themes such as fragrance, edible, ornamental or native plants.