What You Need to Know About Watering Landscapes in Windy Climates
When running your sprinkler system’s spray zones, windy days can create challenges. High winds apply force to the water droplets travelling from spray heads, through the air, to your landscape, causing water waste. This wastefulness changes the amount of water being delivered to that zone, resulting in over / under watered grass and plants or water being diverted to areas that don’t need it (sidewalks, driveways, fences, etc.). Sowhat options do you have to reduce, or eliminate, high wind water waste?
1. Smart Controllers
Certain smart controllers on the market today connect via WiFi to local weather stations that are broadcasting real-time weather data. If an unfavorable condition exists, such as high winds, the smart controller will automatically pause that scheduled watering time until the winds have died down.
2. Drip Irrigation Solutions
For high wind areas, and the overall most efficient watering solution is a drip irrigation system. Drip irrigation isengineered to deliver slow drips of water directly to the root zones of your favorite trees, flowers, shrubs, and grass. As opposed to traditional spray heads, drip irrigation lines deliver moisture directly to the soil, which are not affected by high winds.
Drip irrigation lines can be retrofitted to most sprinkler systems as a single zone, or as an entirely new system that is custom designed to your landscape. While a knowledgeable homeowner is certainly capable of installing drip tubing themselves, the process requires extensive knowledge of irrigation systems, proper pressure load balance, coverage area layout, and time. Because of these factors, the licensed and professionally trained experts at Andy’s are here to help you with your drip irrigation installation.
3. Bubblers
A bubbler is an extremely useful irrigation solution designed specifically for small, confined landscaping areas, such as pots and small contained gardens. Bubblers enable a sprinkler system to target these very specific areas of your landscaping that require special attention.
Similar to drip irrigation, bubblers deliver water directly to the soil. However, unlike drip irrigation tubing, bubblers affect only small, focused areas of your landscape. Although the amount of wasted water is reduced significantly compared to traditional spray heads, a bubbler produces more water than the ground can absorb at once. And because bubblers are typically installed in confined areas like pots and gardens, the water remains stationary, giving the soil below it time to fully absorb every drop.
For professional water efficiency solutions – like smart controllers, drip irrigation, and bubblers – that cut down on waste and can save you money, call Andy’s Sprinkler, Drainage & Lighting today at 972-418-6998!