Concerned about Your Water Bill?
If you have a yard, then it is likely that a large portion of your water bill covers the cost of irrigating your landscape. For a typical suburban home, that can be as much as 50%.
3 THINGS YOU CAN DO ON YOUR OWN
1. TRAIN YOUR PLANTS TO USE LESS WATER. Believe it or not, you can train your plants to grow using less frequent, but deeper watering times.
Many irrigation units are set up to water daily, or even twice daily. This encourages plants to grow shorter root systems (making them more susceptible to heat stress), and it also provides the perfect environment for molds and fungi, and promotes attacks by pests that prey on stressed plants–such as white fly. And it costs you much more than is necessary.
Slowly wean your landscape off of frequent shallow waterings by switching to less frequent, deeper waterings. If you water daily for 15 minutes, change it to 20 minutes every other day, and after a month, 25 minutes every three or four days. Your plants need time to adjust, but 15 X 7 = 105 minutes of watering, and 25 X 3 = 75 minutes of watering, so you will have reduced your watering by 25%, and chances are, your plants will be healthier as well.
2. USE MULCH
If your soil is bare, you are losing a significant portion of the irrigation to evaporation. A covering of mulch (either rock or bark, depending on your landscape design), will help hold moisture in. Bark mulch will also breakdown over time and fertilize the soil. Put it on thick (5-6 inches) but don’t let it touch the actual stems of the plants. Rock will also hold moisture in the soil, and doesn’t need to be replenished. But you’ll need to fertilize in addition.
3. CHANGE YOUR IRRIGATION HEADS. This one is a no-brainer. There are new spray heads that rotate rather than put out a steady mist of water. They use less water, create bigger droplets, and therefore lose less water to evaporation. Expect to save 25% or more water, just by changing the heads (cost is about $4.00 each, though prices vary). Most heads just screw out, so the swap is easy.
HOW CAN I HELP?
A designer can guide you with suggestions like the ones above (identifying things that you can do yourself, and things that need professional installation). A designer can also redesign your plantings and irrigation systems to use even less water. Drought-resistant plantings can be tropical and save you money over time.
Let me help you. Call for a consultation, Susan at 808-463-9316 or email me using the contact form.
You will quickly recover the cost of design and maintenance in lower water bills and a healthier landscape!
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