Welcome to July and Smart Irrigation Month. Smart Irrigation Month focuses on implementing simple practices and innovative technologies to improve the efficiency of landscape water use. Considering it has already been a dry summer in the northeast, it is a perfect time to start learning how to practice Smart Irrigation in landscaping. Smart Irrigation not only saves water but it also saves on utility costs. Learning how to practice Smart Irrigation also focuses on different plants and planting methods to save water.
10 Tips on How to Practice Smart Irrigation in Landscaping
- Adjust your water spray patterns so it hits the grass and not the driveway or sidewalk. Purchasing a sprinkler that offers multiple waving patterns can help you control where the water goes. Older oscillating ones are usually unable to do this.
- Mulch your beds to keeps roots moist and cool. Mulching between plantings can also reduce water evaporation.
- Plan out your watering schedule in accordance to the weather. You don’t have to water if there’s a lot of rain in the forecast.
- Landscaping with native plants reduces the need for water. These plants are often hardy and drought tolerant.
- Plant shade trees that will reduce the lawn’s overall temperature and decrease water evaporation.
- If you have to water, do it in the morning or evening. Watering when the sun is bright can increase the chance that the water will evaporate before it hits the plant’s roots.
- Make sure your irrigation equipment is in good working condition. Leaky hoses and sprinklers can waste more than 6,000 gallons of water per year.
- Use a rain barrel to collect rain and run off to use for watering later on. If you live in an urban setting, many municipalities are offering incentives for homeowners to use rain barrels.
- Raise the height of your mower blade in dry periods. Longer grass can shade the soil and stop excess evaporation from happening.
- When planning out your landscape, plan to place your plants tightly. Plants that are growing close together often act like mulch by insulating the soil and slowing evaporation.
Valley Green has everything you need for easy summer landscaping!