Landscape Irrigation

Irrigation

Our theory behind irrigation: “Understand the concept/theory, instead of memorizing the schedules”

General Rule of Thumb: Water for longer periods of time & less frequent

Plants, Trees & Grass are living organisms that need proper care (View our General Maintenance & Fertilization Page). There is no set schedule that one can go by that is universal for all trees, plants & lawns, therefore, the schedules below are average times that can be adapted for each area of the city & each plant type. New trees & plants have a very immature root system, and always have some form of shock when transplanted from a container into their new environment (your yard). They generally need water every day, and can sustain irreversible damage & death if roots dry out. For this reason, they are watered daily (or frequently) until they start to develop a healthy root system (this can be 4 to 8 weeks for plants & trees, and 3 weeks for lawns/grass). After these roots are established, it is not healthy for plants to receive daily water. They need to be slowly “weined” from daily watering, and they need to learn to go extended periods of time without water – this will encourage them to develope a healthier root system. The proper way to reduce water schedules is to slowly start to cut back the watering days & schedules and see how the plants react. This can be done over a period of a few weeks.

For example, try cutting back your plants from every day to every other day, and see what happens. If your plants can handle the cutback, then give them a few weeks and cut back again to every third day. Keep going until you reach our recommended watering schedule. Be careful as to not do drastic cutbacks (meaning that you don’t want to take new plants that are 5 weeks old and set them to water 2 days a week in the middle of July) Your plants & trees will tell you they need water before they go into shock. How do you know? Plants & Trees will generally show slight signs of wilting & grass blades will turn a different shade of green (and become skinnier). You can also feel the soil (try taking a small shovel and digging down 5 to 6 inches and checking for moisture – if it’s dry – then it’s time to water!

Soil types also affect watering schedules. There are all different types of soil in the valley, and each handles watering differently. The East Valley farmlands tend to have a very rich clay soil that can hold water for days. Other areas in North Phoenix have rocky soil that drains quickly, and you may need to water more. Know your soil, and understand how it affects our recommended watering schedule.

Also, established plants need to dry out slightly between waterings. Having a wet soil around your plants/trees all the time is not healthy – and can promote fungus & disease. Let them dry out between waterings – and learn to see the signs that they need water.

Using Hydrawise, you can save up to 50% on your water bill.

Hydrawise, cloud software for Wi-Fi-based irrigation controllers, is a product line of Hunter Industries, a global leader in the irrigation industry that wants to bring the future of smart connected controllers to both professionals and homeowners.

Check out the video (above) on how to use our PRO C controller (our standard irrigation timer installed by Unique) – and remember to turn it off after a rain (this video shows you how to turn it off for a few days and have it go back into normal mode – so you won’t have to remember to turn it back on!)

So, here you go – our recommended watering schedules for AVERAGE soil conditions, and AVERAGE water useage plants of Phoenix. Keep in mind that this will vary for each homeowner, and if you use the general rules & recommendations above, make it your own!