Low-Flow Lawn Watering

David Lupberger: Hi! I am David Lupberger with servicemagic.com. I’m with Craig Bowen from A Boulder Gardener, a full service landscape company. And we’re going to talk about irrigation. Craig, when I’ve seen irrigation systems, I have seen traditional sprinkler heads that I understand how the water flow like two gallons a minute. Well, we’re in an erode area. So, I understand there are also some low flow irrigation options. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Craig Bowen: That’s correct and there are few different kinds of low flow irrigation systems you can use. You can use in the ground low flow irrigation system which I called Drip Systems. David Lupberger: Okay. Craig Bowen: And then above-ground systems that are called Mister Systems that you can incorporate drips on them too for trees, and shrubs, and plants that might need more water. David Lupberger: Okay. Craig Bowen: But this is a great system right here which is just—this is your basic mister head system that can mist over many different plants at once. And this just emits a small amount of water compared to a large sprinkler head that gives in traditional grass areas or large areas where you got the mister coming out. David Lupberger: So, this is the above-ground system. And this will use a fraction of what a traditional sprinkler head flows. Craig Bowen: Exactly. Exactly and in for an area like where we’re at is ideal because you don’t have as much water available to us and it’s much better for an erode area that like we’re at. David Lupberger: And so where we’re at, you’ll see there’s no grass. Craig Bowen: Correct. David Lupberger: So in this case, we’re looking at a system that is really made, this was—this whole system was created to use less water. Craig Bowen: Correct, absolutely. David Lupberger: Okay, then how does this run, is it on a timer? How does this work? Craig Bowen: With on a timer that comes out of just your basic faucet, they come out on the side of your house. David Lupberger: And you just then hook the system to the timer. Craig Bowen: Correct. David Lupberger: And let’s go see the timer. Craig Bowen: Okay. David Lupberger: Okay Craig, here is a sample of the drip system you’re telling me about. Craig Bowen: Yes. David Lupberger: Can you explain how it works. Craig Bowen: Absolutely. This is your main waterline that’s going to all your other plants into your misters. Right here is a little adapter that’s fade on towards called a spaghetti tube. The spaghetti tube that split and then these emitters right here control the amount of water that is going to this tree right here. So, these emitters will admit water directly into the street for the roots because this tree is going to need more water than any other smaller plant would need. And this will help the tree survive and grow a lot healthier. David Lupberger: And so we’ve got two trees behind you. Each of these trees has a drip system like this. Craig Bowen: Correct, correct because in this area, there’s no other plants that need water so we want to put water directly into the roots of the tree. David Lupberger: Your system is fed here by a timer that you can get it to your local hardware store and I’ve attached the y-valve here so you can have your garden hose connected on here so you don’t have to disconnect this every time you want to use your garden hose. And this is the valve and your valve is always on at this point. Here’s an example of a professionally installed timer. The advantage of this timer right here is it could run multiple zones different times a day. Another advantage of this system is that it shuts off when it’s raining. So, you’re not irrigating unnecessarily. In short, timers with misters and a drip system can save you a lot of time, water, and money.