Be Inspired Blog - Arizona
Sensible Landscape Watering
Save Water through your Landscape
Did you know, over half of household water use is attributed to our landscapes?
Below are some high-level tips from Water - Use it Wisely. Click the button below to access their complete downloadable, FREE Landscaping Watering Guide online.
Highlights -three parts to sensible landscape watering:
1. Know how much water your plants need.
2. Know how much water each part of your watering system applies.
3. Match your system's output to your plants' needs.
Ideally, you want to provide your plant with enough water, but not too much water.
1. Know how much water your plants need.
How deep should you water?
The 1-2-3 Rule is an easy way to remember how deep to water:
- Water small plants such as groundcovers, cacti, and annuals to a depth of 1 foot. (Grass should be watered to a depth of 10 inches.)
- Water medium plants, such as shrubs, to a depth of 2 feet.
- Water large plants, such as trees, to a depth of 3 feet.
How wide should you water?
Once plants are established, most water absorbing roots are located near the dripline—which is beneath the outer edge of the plant's canopy—not close to the trunk or stem. Dripline emitters should be concentrated along the dripline of each plant. The water will spread down and horizontally as it soaks into the soil, reaching the entire root zone.
2. How much water does each part of your watering system apply?
The below illustrates how long it would take to apply 10 gallons of water through these methods:
- 2 minutes with a watering hose
- 10 minutes with a 1-gallon per minute bubbler
- 600 minutes or 10 hours with a 1-gallon per hour drip emitter
As you can see, drip systems should use multiple emitters and run for longer periods of time to adequately water the root zones of your plants.
3. Match your system's output to your plants' needs.
Use worksheets to estimate the run time (how long to run the irrigation) and frequency (days between watering) for each area of your landscape. As weather and other factors change, you will need to adjust watering frequency, NOT the run time.
Water Use it Wisely's FREE Landscape Watering Guide
For specifics on how to accomplish Water Use it Wisely's above recommendations, stop by your local SummerWinds Nursery today and speak with one of our Trusted Garden Advisors.
Water Use it Wisely's FREE 18 page Landscape Watering Guide includes the following information and more:
Helpful Illustrations- Information about water measuring tools
- Water Wisdom (Tips)
- Specifics on how deep and wide to water
- Where to place water emitters along a plant's dripline
- Suggested watering depths for different types of plants
- How to measure and test your lawn sprinkler output
- How to measure your drip or bubbler output
- Estimating your emitter flow
- Run Time Worksheets and how to use them (examples and blanks for your use)
- Turf Watering Tips
- An alternative turf watering schedule
- Suggested drip emitter quantities
- Landscape Watering Guidelines for trees, shrubs, groundcovers, vines, cacti and succulents, annuals, warm season grass and cool season grass
- How frequently you should water—considering the weather
- Landscape Plant Watering Tips
- Comparative wetting patterns for different soil types
- Watering schedule for newly planted desert adapted plants
- Scheduling with an irrigation controller or automatic timer
- Performing frequent checks on your system
- Landscape Watering in the Real World (Troubleshooting)
- Additional resources...
Source: Landscape Watering Guide by Water Use it Wisely.
Water Use It Wisely - Text Reminders & Landscape Watering Guides
To assist residents with watering, you can sign up to receive a monthly text message from local water conservation specialists through Water – Use It Wisely.
To access Water Use It Wisely's Interactive Plant Watering Guide and their Interactive Lawn Watering Guide, as well as a PDF version of their Landscape Watering Guide publication, click the button below.
