There may not be a water crisis in Northern Colorado presently, but recent weather patterns suggest it is just a matter of time before one exists. Currently a large swath of the US is experiencing vastly warmer and drier conditions than normal. If this trend persists, and assuming our demand on the freshwater supplies continue to increase, a national water crisis is bound to surface. After all, the record breaking snowfall most of the West received last winter barely put a dent in the water shortages throughout the region. In addition, “water wars” have begun to really heat up throughout the Colorado and Platte River Basins.
Alpenglow Sprinkler feels that reducing our water use, both inside and outside the home, has increasingly become our civic duty. Keeping our sprinkler systems in good repair is an important part of this solution, as over 60% of our summertime water consumption is the winter watering of perennials. Shrubs and trees may be necessary, especially if warmer temperatures and drier conditions persist. This is especially true for evergreen species such as Fir, Spruce, Pine, Yew, Juniper and broadleaf evergreens as these continue to photosynthesize throughout the winter months. Deciduous trees, shrubs and perennials may also appreciate some supplemental moisture.
Be sure to apply the water slowly and to the feeder roots of the plants in need. Mature trees have their feeder roots well away from their trunk and may need to be watered as much as 15-20’ from the trunk of the tree. A good rule of thumb is to water trees under the ends of their out-reaching branches (i.e., under their drip line), and to put down approximately 5 gallons of water for every inch of diameter of each tree.
The solar exposure of the site will help determine how much winter watering may be necessary to maintain the health of the plants. South facing slopes and extremely solar sites will heat up and dry out faster and consequently will require more watering. Shady conditions and north facing slopes may eliminate the need to winter water from outdoor water use.
Updated control clocks, rain or soil moisture sensors, proper irrigation scheduling and well designed systems will go a long way to achieving significant water savings.
However, there are numerous ways to achieve reduced outdoor water use that have little or nothing to do with sprinkler system efficiencies. Many of these individually may have a marginal effect on our consumption of water, but in combination the water savings could be significant.
I will attempt to shed some light on a few of these “Best Management” practices aimed at reducing our outdoor water use. Some of these recommendations may not be easily accepted by landscape maintenance companies as they very well may impact their businesses when implemented, but the rewards could be far reaching (i.e., help fill up our aquifers and reservoirs).
One easy way to achieve this goal and save money at the same time is to reduce our use of nitrogen-rich fertilizers, which promotes rapid leaf growth, and in turn requires more water to keep the affected plants healthy. In addition, on lawn areas this requires an increased need to mow more often. The age-old belief that one needs to apply these fertilizers 3 or 4 times a season has been seen by many environmentally conscious people as being extreme and another potential source of the polluting of our waterways.
Mulching the lawn clippings can help reduce the need to fertilize and the clippings help increase the water retention properties of the soil. Another benefit of mulching might be eliminating the hassle and cost of hauling the clippings away and assumably paying to dump them. This may seem like it would hardly affect the consumption of water, but if most property owners adopted this practice the water savings would be significant, as would the reduced fuel consumption and associated air pollution of needlessly hauling the clippings to a recycling entity.
Another practice proven to reduce water use is to have the lawn cut at a taller height as the resulting blade length helps shade the soil to some degree. This could impair a sprinkler system’s ability to deliver water to the lawn effectively, especially when the heads are too low or outdated, typically having a shorter popup height. Both of these shortcomings can be addressed relatively easily and affordably. Raising the height of the mower’s blades is especially effective during the last mowing of the season as the taller turf tends to over-winter better on the moisture that Mother Nature provides.
These are just a few of the ways we can pitch in to help reduce our demand on our limited freshwater supplies, while growing healthy lawns and landscapes and reducing our impact on the environment. My hope is that these practices become widely accepted and help to improve the quality of life here in Northern Colorado.