[mntlblok]

Originally Posted by SeaCros

Not needed unless the yard crew rides over them and breaking them or the grass growing over preventing the heads from popping up to water the yard correctly. That then would cost money to replace or repair the heads more frequently.
St Augustine grass is like many have not had the opportunity to deal with in different areas outside of Florida. Just call them piece of mind.

Fascinating to learn how St. Augustine grass interacts with them. Little to no experience with St. Augustine, but learning that the invasive Bermudas grass rhizomes and stolons have become the windmills in my zoysia lawn against which I've come to tilt. When those rascals come up against a barrier such as these donuts (or that metal plate next to those nice, smooth pebbles next to the house), they seem to take it personally and elect to join forces and attempt to mimic a steel cable. There are chemicals that can kill this Bermuda without killing the zoysia, but it looks to be pretty tricky to handle. It is also apparently not something that the lawn bidnesses in these parts fiddle with. The zoysia is *so* much prettier but, unfortunately, significantly slower to fill in.

I can now enjoy a new (to me) bit of trivia. There's both a "piece" of my mind that I may give *and* "peace" of mind which I may have. :-)

[Irishfxm]

Originally Posted by birdawg

The villages must have thousands of sprinkler heads and not one donut.

My landscaper who lives in Ocala told me that nobody in Ocala uses Donuts. Only in The Villages.

[NoMoSno]

Originally Posted by Irishfxm

My landscaper who lives in Ocala told me that nobody in Ocala uses Donuts. Only in The Villages.

Someone must use them. They have 1237 in stock at Ocala Lowes.

[Greatlawn]

I use them to mark locations of sprinkler heads

[JimGuerriere]

YES. They are definitely needed for the heads near your driveway and roadway. If a car runs over them they will be damaged and leak and you may never know that they are damaged because the connection in the ground will leak and you will spend needless money on water.
I am a home inspector and I have experience in this matter.
Feel free to call me if you have any questions. I can help you install them if need be.

Jim 607.434.2020

[birdawg]

Originally Posted by NoMoSno

Someone must use them. They have 1237 in stock at Ocala Lowes.

should have stated village owned property

[frayedends]

Thanks for all the input. I see arguments for and against that both make sense. As I said, the location of my heads is not conducive to cars parking in them. But I am part time so the lawn guys could damage them. I will be mowing myself when I go full time and keeping the heads clear is something I don’t mind doing. But perhaps it’s better to have them for now.

[NavyVet]

Donuts can only do so much. Lawn guys with their big machines drive over them anyway. Requests for hand mowing our tiny lawn falls on deaf ears. Twice in the last few weeks, the same sprinkler head was broken. Then we have to call Massey to come out and replace it again.
Now we have painted the donuts a shiny sparkly silver to be more noticeable. We will see if that helps.
Maybe next time, we'll try neon yellow or orange. *sigh*

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by NavyVet

Donuts can only do so much. Lawn guys with their big machines drive over them anyway. Requests for hand mowing our tiny lawn falls on deaf ears. Twice in the last few weeks, the same sprinkler head was broken. Then we have to call Massey to come out and replace it again.
Now we have painted the donuts a shiny sparkly silver to be more noticeable. We will see if that helps.
Maybe next time, we'll try neon yellow or orange. *sigh*

Do a search on how to replace a sprinkler head. The videos are very helpful and it’s not a big job to do……save a few bucks to avoid Massey.

[Number 10 GI]

Originally Posted by birdawg

The villages owned property must have thousands of sprinkler heads and not one donut.

I don't know how many times I've seen groundskeepers adjusting sprinkler heads along Morse Blvd, Buena Vista and Meggison Way. If lawn mowers didn't hit them, how did they get out of adjustment?

[BunnyA]

I agree. Sometimes when I go out to clean up my heads, they are so overgrown that they are hard to find.

[Arrachme]

Originally Posted by Keefelane66

Grass here is more like a vine eventually it may cover sprinkler and keep it from popping up. Your choice

There are a few reasons for donuts. At the street edge, you will find cars or trucks park or run over The heads. This can be costly for a few reasons.

The people that use riding lawn equipment, run over them.

Etc.
Maintenance- Check that the donuts don’t disappear. Clean them regularly.

[Blueblaze]

Here's the real reason they're required. 20 years from now your sprinkler heads are going to be 3" lower than they are now. I have no idea why, I just know it's true, because I have a 20-year-old house and I've had to add a new layer of donuts to all the sprinkler heads this year. And there are a couple places I don't care about where I am sure there must have been a sprinkler head once but I'm too lazy to dig up the yard to find it.

What the heck causes that? I'm from Houston, where everybody also has a St Augustine lawn, but I've never seen this before. If the ground is sinking, why is my house just fine? Weird!

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Blueblaze

Here's the real reason they're required. 20 years from now your sprinkler heads are going to be 3" lower than they are now. I have no idea why, I just know it's true, because I have a 20-year-old house and I've had to add a new layer of donuts to all the sprinkler heads this year. And there are a couple places I don't care about where I am sure there must have been a sprinkler head once but I'm too lazy to dig up the yard to find it.

What the heck causes that? I'm from Houston, where everybody also has a St Augustine lawn, but I've never seen this before. If the ground is sinking, why is my house just fine? Weird!

Yes, I had to have 6 pop-up sprinkler heads raised about 5 inches in my front yard because they had sunk into the ground. The donuts had disappeared below ground. No problem in the back yard.

[SaundraNapierP]

FIS outdoor in Wildwood sells the round concrete donuts in two sizes. They are located by Russell Stovers. We installed them ourselves by purchasing a grass remover tool specifically made for sprinkler heads from Lowe’s.