Are you concerned about the amount of water you use in the maintenance and upkeep of your landscape? This article will provide you with ways to conserve water with Tucson landscaping tips and guidelines. Whether you're looking to save water for environmental purposes or save money on utilities, the following information will be beneficial to you and will help you avoid wasting your resources.
Minimizing your water consumption is a win-win situation all around. You save money on your water bill and your landscape gets the water it needs without waste. Water conservation is the most cost-effective and environmentally sound way to reduce our demand for water and there are a number of ways to save water when it comes to Tucson landscaping.
Did you know???
Over half of residential water use goes into our landscapes, which makes watering efficiently one of the best and easiest ways to save water. Professional landscape design and proper planning can help reduce water use by 60 percent, increase your home's value by as much as 25 percent, decrease the costs associated with landscape maintenance and help to keep your landscape plants healthy and beautiful throughout the year.
Developing a comprehensive landscape plan for your property just makes sense. A carefully thought out plan will enable you to create a beautiful outdoor landscape that enhances existing features and adds new ones that can help you save water, money and energy.
A professional landscape designer can help you develop and architectural quality plan for your water-saving landscape. They start with a simple base map of your property lines and then expand it into a detailed plan that includes existing structures and sun/rain exposure. They'll look for things like spigot and downspout locations, trees, slopes, existing sprinkler systems and more.
In addition to conserving water, you can also save on energy costs. Strategically placed trees and shrubs can help you save up to 25 percent on yearly heating and cooling costs. During the winter, trees and shrubs shield your home from cold winds, reducing heat loss. In summer, shade trees can reduce the need for cooling.
Xeriscaping is a popular Tuscon landscaping method used to promote water conservation in landscaped areas. Converting your existing landscape to a xeriscape is not complicated – it just requires a little expertise on regional climates and few improvements to the property.
A professional landscape designer can provide direction and guidance by mapping your water and energy conservation strategies and base them on your regional and micro climates. This is crucial, as plant selection and locations will depend on where you live and how they'll flourish while saving water. They will also be able to help you reduce the amount of turf areas, which usually requires a lot of supplemental watering.
Other things to consider in a xeriscape are improvements in the soil to absorb water and encourage deeper roots, irrigation techniques that water plants in the most efficient locations, using mulch to keep roots cool and minimize evaporation and maintaining landscape through fertilizing, trimming and controlling pests.
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Garden irrigation system installation is not complex, and can be successfully done if a few practical aspects are kept in mind. I found that taking shortcuts often results in additional work or repair. Some of what follows is common sense for the practical minded, but could easily be overlooked.
It all starts with a proper garden and lawn irrigation system design. Practical aspects of a good design would ensure that sprinklers spray away from buildings so that walls do not become wet. The capillary action of water in masonry will lead to damp inner walls. Some spray against garden walls is not serious. Where the garden is fenced, care should be taken to avoid over spray into the neighbors garden. The water lines should also be kept as short as possible keeping in mind that labor costs far outweigh the cost of irrigation pipes.
The route of the trenches in which the irrigation pipes will be buried should be carefully planned before digging starts. A large number of pipes can be accommodated in a single trench, so try and route pipes together to reduce trenching. The most practical route is to dig the trench just inside flowerbeds and right next to the edge of the lawn. This way only annual border plants are affected by the digging and the lawns remain unaffected.
Trenches should also take the shortest route to the sprinkler position inside flower beds to minimize damage to plants and roots of large shrubs and trees. It is also advisable to try and keep a good distance from the trench to the tree trunks. Tree trunks close to a sprinkler would affect the spray pattern. In cases where the sprinkler position is close to a tree, the sprinkler should be moved to a better position, even if the rest of the spray pattern is negatively affected. Try and find a good compromise, always remembering that in a good garden irrigation system, sprays should be positioned to spray head to head.
When digging inside a flower bed, existing plant positions should be carefully noted. Where possible try and trench around plants to minimize the number that has to be removed. If plants have to be removed, they should be removed carefully with sufficient soil attached to their root balls. Place removed plants on plastic sheeting preferably in the shade. While digging and installing the garden irrigation system, try and walk in the trenches to prevent undue damage to plants. Place plants back in their original positions after the pipes have been installed and the trenches filled.
Should severe frost and freezing occur where the garden system installation is done, great care should be taken to ensure that the trench bottoms are graded correctly and sufficiently to ensure that the lines drain out after each irrigation cycle to prevent the water freezing in the pipes. A suitable drainage sump should be constructed at the position of the flush valve.
I have seen many garden system installations ruined by dogs, and by forks while digging in the garden after installation. To minimize this from occurring, trenches should be dug to a depth of 400mm (1 and 1/2 foot) plus the diameter of the pipe. A good idea is to use pop-up sprays that are not easily accessible to pets. Dogs just love chewing on leaking sprinklers! This is another good reason to drain your system immediately after each irrigation cycle.
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