You’ve installed an efficient irrigation system and implemented a solid plan for maintaining and upgrading your irrigation system to save water. You’ve equipped your system with pressure compensation nozzles, check valves, pressure regulation devices or regulators, water-efficient rotating sprinklers, low-volume drip irrigation, smart controllers, a soil moisture sensor, and a rain sensor. You’ve implemented a regular system maintenance strategy to ensure proper adjustments, run times and seasonal changes. You have a top of the line, truly “smart” irrigation system that is running at peak efficiency, saving water and money on your water bill. GREAT!
Now what?
There are plenty of additional considerations to explore to complement our smart irrigation system and contribute toward a truly sustainable landscape.
Here is a list of sustainable solutions:
Permeable Pavers:
An alternative to concrete or asphalt surfaces, permeable pavers allow rainwater to filter naturally down into the underlying soil to recharge valuable groundwater aquifers. They help prevent flooding and protect the quality of our water supplies by eliminating pollutant-laden runoff from entering natural waterways.
Rainwater Harvesting:
Rainwater harvesting refers to the capture and storage of water, which can then be used as a supplemental water source for irrigating a landscape. Rainwater harvesting can take many forms, including above-ground rain barrels or cisterns, below-grade catchments or combined systems that incorporate simple or advanced water features. Be sure to check local regulations before exploring this option.
Green Walls:
A vertical, vegetative “living wall,” a green wall can be freestanding or part of a building and can help reduce the overall temperature of the building, improve the aesthetics and can even aid in water reuse, purification and retention.
Soil Testing:
Submit a soil sample to a testing laboratory for an inexpensive report explaining its balance of nutrients, which will assist with selecting the appropriate fertilizer and application rate.
Aerification, Amendments and Mulch:
Implementing a regular aerification schedule and base layer of organic matter or calcined clay products will aid in water and nutrient retention and allow deeper infiltration into the soil profile to promote deeper root growth and help plants resist disease and better withstand drought conditions.
Slow-Release Fertilizer:
The use of coated, slow-release fertilizers, which have lower salt indexes than other quickly-available nitrogen fertilizers, means less watering when compared to their non-coated counterpart products.
Fertilizer Injection Systems (Fertigation):
Fertigation, derived from the combination of fertilization and irrigation, allows you to fertilize and irrigate a section of turf in one simple step, making it easier for nutrients to infiltrate plant root zones and eliminating the need for watering above and beyond the irrigation system’s scheduled program run time.
Recycle/Compost:
When you mow, leave the clippings on the lawn, a practice called grasscycling. The clippings decay very rapidly releasing the nutrients they contain to be reused by the lawn. You can reduce the need to apply fertilizer by ¼ to 1/3 by grasscycling. In addition, you can also mulch light layers of leaves into your lawn and use heavier leaf coverings as mulch around plants.
Traditional turf is lovely to look at, but if you are trying to conserve water, synthetic turf might be a good solution.
Sustainable solutions are the perfect addition to any landscape to complete a water-efficient strategy. The benefits of using sustainable solutions go beyond just saving water. Landscapes that use sustainable solutions are cheaper to maintain, have a higher success rate, and lowers utility bills. Paired with a well-designed and installed smart irrigation system, a water efficient plant layout, and a well-maintained irrigation system, you are perfectly prepared for water efficiency and sustainable landscape design and installation.
To learn more about sustainable landscaping solution tips or to explore other industry resources visit our Knowledge Center. If you are an irrigation professional in the Colorado or Wyoming area and would like to partner with CPS distributors to help your business grow, please visit our Become A Customer page.
