Video: Conserving Water with Landscape Irrigation

CAMPBELL — Host, Sarah Rutan: With the current drought conditions in California, it’s time to change the way we approach watering our landscapes. Today we’re in Campbell with Diamond Certified Expert Contributor Jeff Sheehan of Confidence Landscaping to learn how.

Diamond Certified Expert Contributor, Jeff Sheehan: Water conservation in the state of California is now a way of life, as we all know. Historically in the landscape business and in our own homes, we have overwatered our plants to the point of twice, maybe three times, the amount of water that our plants really do need. If we merely observe our plants, and we can gauge the amount the time that it really takes between our first irrigation system, and then how long it takes for that plant to begin to wilt, we can save 30, 40, 50, 60 percent of the amount of water that we’re currently applying to our landscapes.

As we all know, in the current drought we are looking at 30% reduction state wide. This is easily achieved by simply monitoring your irrigation controller. Watch for your plants to begin to speak to you, if you will – where they’ll begin to wilt. What time frame was involved there? And then you’ll have more of a gauge as to the reservoir that’s down in the root zone that the plants can then draw upon.

A typical situation would be walking across a lawn that you have not irrigated for some time. And you’ll notice that as your foot – as you walk across your footprints – the blades of the grass will actually stay down. And if they’re staying down, that is a good indicator for you that now is the time to actually irrigate that lawn as opposed to, again, Monday, Wednesday, Friday for ten minutes. We’re overwatering. The plants don’t need it. Let them go into a stress situation a little bit. They won’t die. And they’ll be perfect for you when hopefully we get an average winter and we’re back in business again. Thank you.

Host, Sarah Rutan: To learn more from local, top-rated companies, visit our Diamond Certified Expert Reports at experts.diamondcertified.org.