Conserving Water

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Water is a limited resource and should be used wisely, especially during a drought, but we often overwater our landscapes unintentionally.

Watch your landscape for signs of water need. Water your lawn only when at least a third of it is wilted. Look for folded grass blades and footprints that remain visible. Monitor plants for wilt and check planting bed soil for dryness before you irrigate.

Choose a water-efficient microirrigation system and make sure that your sprinklers are watering only the yard, not hard surfaces.

To reduce long-term water needs in your landscape, choose drought-tolerant, Florida-Friendly plants.

Wise water use reduces water bills, keeps plants healthy, and protects the environment!

Designing Low Water Use Landscapes

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Water is a precious resource that we all need. To conserve water, design your Florida-Friendly landscape to conserve water.

Use the oasis approach, placing high-maintenance plants in areas with the most visual impact, like entranceways and patios. These areas of your landscape will need the most care.

Group plants that have similar water needs together in the rest of your landscape to make watering them easier.

Use a two- to three-inch layer of mulch in your planting beds to help keep moisture in. Choose drought-tolerant plants, and consider a drought-tolerant turf such as bahia.

To help protect our environment, take the smart approach to landscaping and plan ahead!

Learning Your Irrigation Timer

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If you have an automated home irrigation system, it’s important to adjust the timer now that we have started daylight savings time.

Consult the manual that came with your system or contact an irrigation professional if you have trouble.

Now is a great time to reevaluate when your irrigation is running and for how long. Irrigation controllers are often set to run too frequently or too long, which can waste water, promote diseases, and wash away fertilizer. Remember to adhere to any water restrictions for your area.

Learn to set your irrigation timer properly and water only when plants need it. You’ll save water and money, and you’ll help protect the environment!

Calibrating Irrigation Systems

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Calibrating your irrigation system means figuring out how long it needs to run to apply the correct amount of water.

To calibrate your system, set out five to ten straight-sided containers, like tuna-fish cans, throughout the landscape or each irrigation zone, if you have zones.

Turn on the sprinkler system for thirty minutes. Then use a ruler to measure the depth of the water in each container and average them all together.

Once you know this number, you can calculate how much time is needed to apply one-half to three-quarters of an inch of water, which is what your landscape needs at each application.

Calibrating your system saves water, money and our environment.