What to do about dry grass?

What to do about dry grass?

Long dry spells in summer, short and heavy rains. This scenario will become more and more frequent due to climate change and is unfortunately also reflected in the condition of many lawns. The lawn has to be replaced again and again, which is associated with high costs. The secret of a healthy lawn lies above all in watering.

New, smart solutions for needs-based and precise irrigation systems for lush green lawns are in demand.

LITE-SOIL® offers this with the innovative BLUELITE-NET, a combination of fleece-protected drip line and water distribution network for underground irrigation.

Basically, underground irrigation systems have a number of advantages over sprinkler systems:

° Up to 70% water savings

° No evaporation, less surface matting or waterlogging

° Playing and mowing is also possible during irrigation

° No vandalism or UV damage

However, conventional subsurface drip irrigation also has some disadvantages such as root ingrowth or clogging by soil fines, damage to the pipe or uneven irrigation in complex soil structures.

BLUELITE-NET

Precisely to eliminate these disadvantages, the BLUELITE-NET system offers a well thought-out solution for water-saving underfloor irrigation for lawns.

The cost-effective combination consists of 2 elements: A voluminous fleece net (LITE-NET) with a high proportion of pores and a fleece-protected droplet irrigation tube (BLUELITE-TUBE) laid directly on top of it. Substrate is applied root-deep on top of this.

The water from the flexible pipe is distributed longitudinally in the fleece covering and evenly distributed to the fleece net underneath, where it is distributed capillary over a large area in the root area. The contact surface between water and soil is multiplied by a factor of a thousand. The robust fleece coating protects the drip irrigation pipes against root growth and clogging by fine soil particles.

Due to the open and flexible net shape, roots can easily grow through the approx. 13 cm large openings and dock all around the thick nonwoven net This means that 100 % of the capillary water stored in the net is available to the plants when needed. Liquid fertiliser can also be applied very effectively to the roots.

Since the system can be laid at any depth, plants can also be optimally supplied in the vegetation phase or in mixed crops. The nonwoven nets are very flexible, easy to cut, over 5 m wide and therefore easy and quick to lay. The 16 mm drip lines have pressure-compensated drip heads at a distance of 33 or 50 cm with a flow rate of approx. 2 l/h and the pipes are laid at a distance of approx. 60 cm.

LITE-STRIPS and LITE-NET

Furthermore, the system can be supplemented with 7 cm long felt strips (LITE-STRIPS), which are simply mixed into the substrate above the BLUELITE-NET. They increase the permeability, stability and water storage capacity of the base layer.

Of course, LITE-STRIPS and LITE-NET can also be used without pipes to combat dried-up lawns. The mixed LITE-STRIPS then serve as a substrate improvement in the lawn, transport the water quickly from the surface to the roots, distribute it and store it on site. A kind of permanent aeration occurs with reduced soil compaction and surface matting. The geotextile material consists of approx. 90% interconnected air pores, 1 kg can store up to 10 l of water.

 

BLUELITE-NET – Project Neeser AG