Spartan Mowers Releases 2025 Product Lineup
Jessica Schwartz
Water Harvesting To Irrigate Landscapes
Rain water, gray water, and blackwater systems can aid arid areas. Reducing the amount of water used for landscape irrigation is challenging, yet extremely important to the drought affected areas of the U.S. Landscape watering needs within the U.S. vary greatly based on many different factors: local climate, soil conditions, native plants, plant selection, and micro-climates on the site. In many locales, rainfall can be nature’s irrigation system, while in drought affected areas precious potable water provides most of the source for landscape irrigation. Yet even with these differences, saving water is very possible. In most cases, simple changes can result in water savings between 10% to 20%. By reusing water, savings of 50% to 100% are achievable. First Steps The first step in saving water is maximizing the efficiency of the irrigation system. Once that is accomplished, incorporating a water reuse system (i.e., rain water harvesting, gray water, or blackwater) makes sense. (Efficient irrigation systems will obviously reduce the cost of any new water-reuse systems.) Irrigation System Efficiency. Obvious simple system fixes such as addressing leaks, adjusting heads to not over- or under-spray, getting the controller set right, adding a rain sensor, and upgrading the controller to an EPA WaterSense weather-based model will result in a reduced water bill and a less costly water reuse system. The EPA provides a water budgeting tool which is handy when determining how much water should be applied to a landscape. It can be found at epa.gov/watersense/water-budget-tool. Soil & Mulch. Another step to ...
Water Harvesting To Irrigate Landscapes
Rain water, gray water, and blackwater systems can aid arid areas. Reducing the amount of water used for landscape irrigation is challenging, yet extremely important to the drought affected areas of the U.S. Landscape watering needs within the U.S. vary greatly based on many different factors: local climate, soil conditions, native plants, plant selection, and micro-climates on the site. In many locales, rainfall can be nature’s irrigation system, while in drought affected areas precious potable water provides most of the source for landscape irrigation. Yet even with these differences, saving water is very possible. In most cases, simple changes can result in water savings between 10% to 20%. By reusing water, savings of 50% to 100% are achievable. First Steps The first step in saving water is maximizing the efficiency of the irrigation system. Once that is accomplished, incorporating a water reuse system (i.e., rain water harvesting, gray water, or blackwater) makes sense. (Efficient irrigation systems will obviously reduce the cost of any new water-reuse systems.) Irrigation System Efficiency. Obvious simple system fixes such as addressing leaks, adjusting heads to not over- or under-spray, getting the controller set right, adding a rain sensor, and upgrading the controller to an EPA WaterSense weather-based model will result in a reduced water bill and a less costly water reuse system. The EPA provides a water budgeting tool which is handy when determining how much water should be applied to a landscape. It can be found at epa.gov/watersense/water-budget-tool. Soil & Mulch. Another step to ...
Turf June 2022 Issue
Editor’s Letter: June 2022 Issue Not A Drop To Drink I could fill this Editor’s Letter with scary statistics about water shortages and drought, but unless you’re living under a rock within that xeriscape you designed, it’s not news to you. In many areas, we are in crisis with a precious resource not only essential to life, but essential to the landscape trade. “Using clean, filtered drinking water to water landscapes will become a thing of the past,” writes Doug Pushard, founder of HarvestH20 in his article, “Water Harvesting & Reuse.” Though that may seem unlikely, or at least years away, in states blessed with adequate rainfall, landscapers in California are already facing harsh water realities. While smart controllers, drip irrigation, and appropriate plant selection should come into play in any irrigated landscape, firms like CK Landscape in San Francisco are leading the way with fertigation, groundwater use, and graywater systems as standard practices in their stunning designs. It likely won’t be long until many others in arid areas are following suit—by choice or by necessity. Of course, too much water comes with its own set of landscape problems. Storms with deluges of rain over a short time can mean drainage problems. And stormwater runoff is increasingly being scrutinized for its pollutants. I recently spoke with a friend in a neighborhood where his rain garden is a property requirement and subject to municipal inspections and fines. And yet I remember a time fairly recently when few people had even heard ...
Turf June 2022 Issue
Editor’s Letter: June 2022 Issue Not A Drop To Drink I could fill this Editor’s Letter with scary statistics about water shortages and drought, but unless you’re living under a rock within that xeriscape you designed, it’s not news to you. In many areas, we are in crisis with a precious resource not only essential to life, but essential to the landscape trade. “Using clean, filtered drinking water to water landscapes will become a thing of the past,” writes Doug Pushard, founder of HarvestH20 in his article, “Water Harvesting & Reuse.” Though that may seem unlikely, or at least years away, in states blessed with adequate rainfall, landscapers in California are already facing harsh water realities. While smart controllers, drip irrigation, and appropriate plant selection should come into play in any irrigated landscape, firms like CK Landscape in San Francisco are leading the way with fertigation, groundwater use, and graywater systems as standard practices in their stunning designs. It likely won’t be long until many others in arid areas are following suit—by choice or by necessity. Of course, too much water comes with its own set of landscape problems. Storms with deluges of rain over a short time can mean drainage problems. And stormwater runoff is increasingly being scrutinized for its pollutants. I recently spoke with a friend in a neighborhood where his rain garden is a property requirement and subject to municipal inspections and fines. And yet I remember a time fairly recently when few people had even heard ...
