Truckee & Lake Tahoe Landscaper Uses SMART Sprinkler Controller To Save Clients Water And Money

www.estatelandscape.com

Mark Osberg, Pres., Estate Landscape & Irrigation, Inc.

Most people think of a landscape sprinkler system consisting of some heads, some valves and a timer (known as a controller). When someone sets the controllers´ program they would look at the landscape and questimate how long the specific zones should run. As professional landscape water managers, we know that this is an overly simplified way to schedule the delivery of water to the plants in your landscape.

Before programming a sprinkler timer we need to know a few basics about the area we are watering. What type of plants do we have? Natives, flowers, turf? Does the landscape have full sun, partial sun or shade? What direction do the respective areas of the landscape face? East? South, etc.? What type of soil is below the ground? Sand that will allow water to penetrate easily? Or clay that will take water a long time to move into? Is the water source from the city water district or a well? How much water do the sprinkler heads put out in a given amount of time? How much time do you have to water (night time is the best)?

All of these are important tools in our toolbox so we know how much and when to apply water to our landscape without wasting it. And without wasting money!

The idea behind using a sprinkler system is to apply water to your landscape as the plants use the water in the soil. And apply this water deeply, but infrequently.

This of course depends on what type of plants you have. Deep rooted trees will require water less often, medium rooted turf and flowers will require watering more often and shallow rooted bedding plants or groundcover frequently. This is why modern sprinkler controllers have several different "programs" available. Established trees, with deep roots, may only need watering once a week in the middle of the summer. Medium rooted plants may need watering 4-5 days a week. Shallow rooted plants will need watering everyday, maybe even twice a day depending on the exposure to the summer sun.

Landscape industry surveys have shown that most people overwater their landscapes. Water logging plants can be as harmful as no water at all. Up until recently the factors listed above were used to make a determination about the watering schedule along with experience and common sense. This often resulted in overwatering. This was wasteful of the precious resource, water, but also wasteful of our hard earned money. With most Water Districts implementing metering it is time to take the next step in keeping our landscape healthy, conserving water and saving money. Irrigation manufacturers have adapted a technology that can take the guess work out of scheduling the watering cycles of your sprinkler system. This will save you water and money.

The new controllers are called SMART controllers. They use a formula based on how much water the plants use and how much water evaporates naturally in your landscape known as Et. There is some initial information that has to be input into the controller. Some minor adjustments are also necessary at first. After that the SMART controller does the rest. Rain shut off sensors are included in most weather stations and will not allow the system to water when rainfall is detected. Some even have a temperature sensor to tell when it is to cold to water. Call us for further details.

To have this Et information you have a choice of installing an on-site weather station (a one time cost) or subscribing to a service that provides this information for an annual fee. This subscription service transmits the Et information wirelessly. Good wireless signal strength is necessary for this type of service. With the addition of a SMART controller, your schedule will be determined by your site conditions and the climactic conditions of your location.

And starting in 2010 the State of California will be requiring the installation of SMART controllers on all new landscapes that are in excess of 5,000 square feet.

Some existing controllers are able to upgrade to an Et weather station. Most older controllers are not. This means replacing your old controller with a SMART controller and either subscribing to the service or installing the on-site weather station. Depending on your water rates and how you have been watering your landscape, your payback on this investment can be as little as one summer. Most installations will take a bit longer.

Most irrigation manufacturing companies have a SMART controller in their line. For further information contact Estate Landscape & Irrigation, Inc. at info@estatelandscape.com or phone 530-546-2042.