Introduction
Although watering a lawn seems straightforward, without the correct technique, you may easily waste more water than you would think. Understanding how to use water effectively in their reticulation systems helps homes gain from water conservation, which is becoming increasingly vital. From antiquated equipment to bad scheduling, typical errors increase water costs and usually stress plants. Ten of the most common ways individuals unintentionally squander water in their gardens will be discussed in this article, together with how professionally built irrigation systems with clever features can help you create a rich landscape while being resource-wise conserved.
1. Overwatering
Without a well-designed system, even the most astute lawn enthusiast will overwater. Using a professionally designed system with smart technology allows you to monitor and adjust watering schedules automatically, ensuring that plants only get what they require when they require it.
A poorly designed system will apply water unevenly or what the irrigation professionals describe as "Distribution Uniformity". Sprinklers with mismatched precipitation rates and a lack of head-to-head coverage result in excessive run times being used to compensate for areas receiving less water than others.
2. Ignoring the Weather
Manually adjusting for the weather is difficult! By dynamically adjusting your reticulation timer scheduling depending on real-time weather data, a smart irrigation system helps to easily save water by avoiding needless watering.
An example of this is using a Hunter Hydrawise-enabled Retic controller; you can set your system to automatically skip a watering schedule if a specified amount of rain has been recorded locally within a specified period before the schedule is programmed to start. This is particularly helpful in the shoulder months in Spring and Autumn when the weather can be unpredictable.
3. Leaky Old Equipment
Leaky PVC, poly pipes, or an antiquated system wastes water and drive expenses. Changing to a smart, professionally designed irrigation system using quality parts guarantees the best water efficiency..
PVC and poly pipe can begin to fail after 15-20 years, and even sooner if installed poorly, so it's best to have you system regularly maintained and checked for leaks. If you are experiencing a drop in sprinkler pressure or seeing evidence of pooling water your system may be ready for an overhaul.
4. Poor Sprinkler Layout
DIY installation often results in inconsistent watering, oversaturation of certain areas and dryness of others. Expert designs cover every region precisely and save water generally by maximising layout for best efficiency.
Having your system designed by a professional before tackling your DIY home irrigation system will give you the best chance of saving water and achieving a healthy lawn and garden.
Nutrien Water provides free professional irrigation designs for the DIY'er, simply visit the website and follow the instructions here.
5. Watering during the incorrect daily time
The best time of day to water your lawn and garden is early morning, just before sunrise. This ensures the water gets deep into the soil yet doesn't stay saturated for too long, which can increase instances of fungal diseases such as Dollar Spot.
Water during daylight hours is okay, but you risk losing some moisture to evaporation, so keep it as early as possible.
6. Poor Soil Quality
Knowing what type of soil you have is very important when trying to apply water efficiently. Applying water to poorly prepared topsoil will result in excessive watering and poor uptake.
Soils with a high clay content retain moisture well and have poor drainage capacity, resulting in water run-off and poor absorption. For clay soils, we recommend using Gypsum or a "clay-breaker" before planting and thoroughly mixing through the topsoil with a powered Rotary Hoe.
Sandy soils commonly found in Perth, Western Australia, are often hydrophobic, meaning they repel water, causing it to pool on the surface before leeching straight through the topsoil profile before the plants get a chance to utilise it. For this soil type, we recommend adding organic matter, such as a quality soil conditioner from your local landscape supplies yard, to the soil before planting. Mixing through the top 300mm of topsoil will provide the best result.
Using quality wetting agents during the Spring and summer will provide your soil with the added retention and drainage needed to withstand those warmer periods without showing signs of stress.
7. Ignoring System Maintenance
Periodic maintenance is essential to ensuring your system runs efficiently and as intended. Failure to do so often results in undiagnosed faults, such as blocked sprinkler heads, faulty rotor sprinklers, and valve wiring issues.
It is recommended that you run a test cycle of all stations monthly, paying particular attention to the spray pattern of your sprinklers and keeping an eye out for any dry patches developing, often caused by a blocked or partially blocked sprinkler nozzle.
Testing your system monthly during the winter switch-off period also keeps valves operational for longer.
8. Choose the Incorrect Sprinkler Heads
Professionally designed systems match sprinkler heads and emitters to the demands of your landscape. Using sprinklers and nozzles best suited to the watering requirement of your garden ensures every drop gets utilised.
An example of this is the common Rose garden. Rose's do not like overhead watering and prefer to have water applied directly to the root zone, so the use of Spectrum spray stakes or dripline irrigation is a much better choice over Spray nozzles or rotor sprinklers.
Consult an irrigation professional when designing your home irrigation system and let them know your plant choices to get the best outcome.
9. Watering Every Plant the Same
While low-water plants get just enough, advanced systems let you create zones and irrigation settings so thirsty plants get more water. By designing your garden in a way that groups plants with similar water requirements allows you to create irrigation zones to match.
An example of mismatched watering requirements would be to combine succulents plants with tropical plants. Succulents prefer infrequent watering and soil that dries out completely between applications, and tropical plants prefer more frequent applications and soil that remains moist.
Another example is watering garden beds with lawn areas. This is a big no-no in irrigation and always results in wasted water.
10. Not Applying Mulch
When it comes to your garden beds, using quality composting mulch retains moisture in the topsoil. It also provides organic matter, which stimulates microbial activity, making plants more resilient to drought conditions and overall healthier.
Topping up mulch to your garden beds should be part of your spring garden maintenance regime to ensure your plants thrive all the way through summer.
