Thousand Oak Water Conservation Level Raised!

On August 1, 2009, Level 1 of the new Water Conservation Ordinance, declared by City Council, will take effect. Besides permanent measures already in place, it limits the ability to water daily to three times a week (twice a week from November through March).

What are the basics of the City of Thousand Oaks new permanent water conservation measures?

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  Watering is prohibited between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
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  Watering duration is limited to no more than fifteen minutes per day per station
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  No excessive water flow or runoff is permitted
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  No washing down hard or paved surfaces
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  Leaks, breaks or malfunctions must be fixed within 7 days of receiving notice
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  Re-circulating water required for decorative water fountains and features
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  Washing vehicles, other than at commercial car wash facilities, must be done with a self-closing shut off nozzle on the hose
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  Drinking water in food establishments served only upon request
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  Lodging establishments must provide guests options to decline daily linen services
  Single pass cooling systems may not be installed
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  Non-re-circulating commercial car wash and laundry systems are prohibited in new systems. Effective 1/1/2010, ALL commercial conveyor car wash systems must have installed operational re-circulating water systems.
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  Restaurants are required to use water conserving dish wash spray valves

The Different Levels of Water Conservation Program:

1. Level 1, in fact all levels, expand upon the basic permanent measures. For example, watering days will be limited to three times a week and during November through March twice a week; leaks will need to be fixed within 72 hours of notification.
2. Level 2 limits watering days to twice weekly and once weekly during November through March; leaks will need to be fixed within 48 hours of notification. Filling or re-filling ornamental lakes or ponds with potable water is prohibited except to the extent needed to sustain aquatic life of significant value. Re-filling of more than one foot and initial filling of residential swimming pools or outdoor spas with potable water is prohibited.
3. Level 3, also referred to as an "Emergency" condition, prohibits all watering (health & safety exceptions listed in Ordinance); leaks will need to be fixed within 24 hours of notification. The City may discontinue water service to those who willfully violate provisions of Level 3.

So How Can I Better Conserve When It Comes To My Lawn Watering Schedule and Sprinkler Set-Up?

First off, its a must to obey the new city ordinances for when and for how long you can water your grass and plants.

Secondly, by having a sprinkler expert come out and inspect your sprinkler valves, timers, and sprinkler heads can help with excess water run off and make sure your system is tip top condition and utilizing the water in the best possible way. Also they can improve your spray coverage.

Also by cleaning out the sprinkler head filters on certain models you can increase your coverage area and improve your flow which means less time needed to run your sprinklers for adequate watering levels.

The next thing you can do is invest in low flow pressurized sprinkler heads. With these units you use less water while maintaining proper grid coverage of your grass and plants. A expert sprinkler repair man can do this for you quickly and at relatively little expensive. And the money you will save by using these new heads will cover the cost in no time for the installation!

Don't risk getting the wrath of your local city code enforcement and get your sprinkler leaks fixed now and inspected regularly. If you live in the Thousand Oaks area contact Ventura Lawn Doctor now!

Benefits of Grass Painting

Why is painting better then trying to let nature take its course to reawake your lawn. Working all fall and winter on your lawn in an attempt to get it green. Painting gives you the green lawn you desire without the hassle. Painting is easier, less expensive, and is actually better for your lawn than over seeding.

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  Have a green lawn in hours, not weeks or months
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  Less expensive than the overall costs of over seeding
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  Environmentally safe, no harmful chemicals in our paint
  Lasts up to 3 months
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  Protects the lawn from harsh winter temperatures
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  No mowing during the winter
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  No Spring Transition Period
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  Prepares grass to "green up" on its own faster in Spring

CONSISTENT GREEN THROUGHOUT ENTIRE LAWN!Painting will not harm you lawn at all. (Remember, when you overseed you are introducing another grass that your original grass will have to compete with for nutrients and sunlight). There are no chemicals in the paint we use, so it's safe for kids, pets, for the lawn itself. The paint will act as a protective barrier for the lawn, warming it throughout the cold months. This protects the roots, and has the grass prepared to green up faster than normal in the Spring.FASTER, EASIER, MORE AFFORDABLE...WITH EVEN BETTER RESULTS

Also by lawn painting you add immediate curb appeal! Curb appeal is essential in the process of selling your house and creates tremendously more value during open house time. If your a realtor and or in the process of listing your own home or a lender and have any bank owned houses in your portfolio then creating a good first impression is essential. Paint your grass green and see your green roll in quicker!

Ventura Lawn Doctor is your Ventura County experts in grass painting.

Bermuda Grass Lawn Maintence Tips

The Basics Of Bermuda Grass Maintenance

WATERING: Golfing greens, athletic fields of all kinds need a particular watering schedule (usually irrigation) to maintain the highest degree of growth that can be obtained with grasses. Over watering can bring about fungus and invitations to insects. Trained groundskeepers time all maintenance to conditions and season. Lawns that are not highly maintained can use the drought tolerance of this grass to their advantage. In most average rainfall seasons little if any water may be needed. Although Bermuda grass is drought tolerant it does responds well to watering and fertilization if the desired density is not sufficient or if it is slower growing than usual during peak seasons.

WEEDING: This is an aggressive grass and can usually take care of weeds on its own once the sod is established and well managed. A regular mowing program helps control weeds. The same goes for pastures.

FERTILIZATION: Although Bermudagrass generally requires lower amounts of fertilizer, usage will determine how much "fuel" this grass will need. Under intense wear, mowing and watering schedules more of the fertilizer will be used or leached into the soil. Bermudagrass used in average lawns and erosion control situations generally needs less fertilizer.

MOWING: Lawns planted with this grass can be mown much closer than other warm season grasses. Once more this information is according to the variety and cutting heights range from 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches. The closest mown Bermudagrass are the most improved varieties which include the vegetative as well as the newer seeded varieties. The newer seeded varieties can be maintained as low as 3/8 in. while the hybrids can be mown down to 3/16 range. Low mowing of Bermuda will generally require daily mowing during peak growing seasons.

DISEASE / INSECTS: Pearl Scale is a big problem on Tifgreen and other sodded Bermuda grasses.Unfortunately, there is no good method to control them on some of the improved vegetatively established Bermudas. The pearl scale feeds on the roots, so getting insecticide down in the soil where the insects are is difficult, and insecticides are not that effective against them. The best option in turf infested with pearl scale is to plant seeded Bermudagrasses which are naturally resistant to them. No one knows the mechanism of resistance in the seeded Bermuda grasses to pearl scale - they just never get infested with it.

OVERSEEDING: Why overseed, when to overseed, how to overseed and with what grass, does one overseed with? These are the questions that can be answered at the lawn forum. A short version at this time from us is that overseeding accomplishes many goals for improvement, continuous green look, and is the prime example of human ingenuity over Mother Nature. Grass coverage is now (more than ever before) an erosion control factor. Once in place we yearn to keep the cover as green as long as possible. Overseeding warm grasses with cool grasses in the transition zone has succeeded with this goal. Athletic fields and golf courses led the way with a demand for grasses to provide a year round playing field.

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  Perennial rye grass is the number one favorite to overseed Bermudagrass. The perennial ryegrass will not compete as aggressively with the Bermuda and will die back as soon as the temperature rises. Also it germinates quickly and has good disease resistance and high traffic density.


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  Annual rye is also used in a lot of lawns because of the price and ease of overseeding. Sometimes the annual may return in weed form and cause problems later.


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  Overseeding also thins the Bermuda turf and over a period of time this results in having to overseed with with more Bermudagrass seeds. This is an excellent opportunity to add newer varieties to improve the old lawn's characteristics. The best advice for overseeding is water according to directions and keep off the grass until it is growing sufficiently. In the spring you should start a transition program to encourage the Bermuda to grow while forcing the ryegrass to die out

Check out bermudagrass.com for more information and tips. The above information came bermudagrass.com

Ventura Lawn Doctor Website

After a few days locked in front of the computer the new VenturaLawnDoctor.com website is up and running. Its rather simple but delievers the message we want to put out there. After I spent hours programming it up and creating it my internet hosting company was having server issues. So finally 2 and half days later their serve is fixed and now my site is live. VenturaLawnDoctor.com There are some rough edges I am working on and will be including some more interactive features and video tips as well.

So as far as the blog goes I will be giving tips and how-tos, but also along the way for you guys out there who run your own business and have a website, I will be doing a study on the journey I take thru the world of Localized Search Engine Optimazation ( SEO ) for my website and how it hopefully gets ranked higher on google and msn by using several tactics and most of them free.

As always I love any feedback you all can provide!

1st steps for the website, I set up a google webmaster site index for the webpage, VenturaLawnDoctor.com today as well as submitted by hand the website to ask.com, google.com, msn.com, and yahoo.com.

Next I will work on article marketing and link placing within the articles. Stay tuned!

New Beginnings

This is the inaugural post for the new Ventura Lawn Doctor Blog!

This blog will be your newest source for sprinkler repair tips, guides, how-tos, and videos.

We also will be featuring tips and tricks for creating perfect looking lawns, including proper mowing techniquess and styles.

Will also be introducing more people to the wonders and many benefits that grass dying, aka turf colorantes, provide for those houses looking to conserve water, quickly spruce up their appearance, and help Realtor with that ever important curb appeal!

Thank you for following us and this should be a wonderful journey for everyone!

Please also visit our sites Ventura Lawn Doctor, if you need services in Ventura County area and Local Lawn Doctor to learn about our business opportunities!