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Landscaping Water Wise

Tag: irrigation

Too much, too little, just right?

How much to water dry-climate gardens can be a puzzle. The consensus for lawns, the poster child for waste, is 1″/week. Beyond generic groupings into low, moderate, or high water use, the answer for plants is less clear and can challenge long-standing practices. Let me wade into the morass with the Goldilocks principle. Applied to… Read More Too much, too little, just right?

June 9, 2016January 27, 2017 Patti Prairie

Cycle and soak gardens

Want to radically increase water effectiveness at no cost? Rather than run a zone for its total time, divide duration into 2 or 3 parts separated by a brief respite. This cycle and soak technique minimizes runoff and maximizes absorption. Since implementing it 2 years ago in my one-acre Southern California garden, it has proven… Read More Cycle and soak gardens

June 3, 2016January 26, 2017 Patti Prairie1 Comment

Control the controller

NEWSFLASH: Your biggest untapped water saver may be to control the irrigation controller. Do not shy away from this device as too complex or for specialists. Unlike IBM Watson that “destroys humans in Jeopardy” or Google DeepMind that won 9 of 10 games with top Go players, we humans can win this one. The key… Read More Control the controller

March 15, 2016March 17, 2016 Patti Prairie1 Comment

Say no to goof, yes to smart

Goof plugs, designed to repair holes in drip lines where emitters are removed, are notoriously leak-prone. Conversely, smart plugs, the term coined for a new creation borne of sustainability, are leak-proof. Goof plugs fail often and fail big. The 2nd worst drip irrigation leak, they can pop from a drip line to boldly spray 125… Read More Say no to goof, yes to smart

December 12, 2015January 27, 2016 Patti Prairie2 Comments

Tailor emitter flow rates too

While most expert sources recommend extra emitters on thirstier plants, many claim a system’s emitters must all have the same flow rate. In fact, as I discovered last year, tailoring emitter number AND flow rate is a conservation and horticulture win-win. Plants, exposure, and soil vary markedly within residential irrigation zones. As WUCOLS III (Water… Read More Tailor emitter flow rates too

November 28, 2015January 27, 2016 Patti Prairie3 Comments

Water, water, where are you?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency reports that landscape irrigation accounts for almost one-third of all residential water use, with families in dry climates such as the Southwest using twice that of their counterparts. Irrigating our lawns and gardens consumes nearly 9 billion gallons/day, of which an astonishing 50% is wasted due to inefficiency: The… Read More Water, water, where are you?

October 25, 2015January 26, 2017 Patti Prairie

Control the slopes

Slope gardens, so common here in southern California and other water-constrained areas like Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, epitomize conservation opportunities. Months of experimentation revealed seven water retention practices that curb slopes’ wastefulness, enabling us to cut run times in half and frequency by a third. Even now, 18 months later in the 4th… Read More Control the slopes

October 18, 2015January 27, 2017 Patti Prairie2 Comments

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  • Plants: Play it risky or safe?
  • Hardscape: count its blessings
  • Fire lessons learned
  • 50 shades of gray after fire
  • Water when?
  • Customize time & frequency
  • Grass be gone #5
  • Snap and see
  • Get hooked on succulents
  • Rains, reservoirs, drought
  • Cut maintenance AND water
  • My plants
  • Absorb articles of note
  • Go beyond aloes and agaves
  • Rationing-when less is enough
  • New year, new way
  • My 3 favorite aloes
  • Wean plants based on age
  • How to fix a big drip line hole
  • Live and let die
  • Fight the ‘freebies’ urge
  • Offset drip’s downsides
  • Now you sedum, now you don’t
  • Channel your inner Sherlock
  • What’s in a name?
  • Firewise…is…waterwise
  • Reform lawn irrigation
  • Too much, too little, just right?
  • Cycle and soak gardens
  • 5 years and counting
  • When a tree falls…
  • My 3 favorite shrubs
  • Save with benches
  • A world of waterwise choices
  • My 3 favorite agaves
  • Grass be gone #4
  • Seeing is believing
  • Control the controller
  • My 3 favorite low hedges
  • Binge-reading revelations
  • Wage war on weeds
  • Data worth a thousand words
  • My top 10 waterwise tools + 2
  • Revere mulch
  • Squander on the grass
  • My favorite resources
  • Remember the trees
  • Rethink groundcover
  • Four smart sleuthing skills
  • Four winning plant strategies
  • Six stages of adaptation
  • Grass be gone #3
  • Top 10 myths, dispelled
  • Say no to goof, yes to smart
  • Grass be gone #2
  • Tailor emitter flow rates too
  • Purge the garden
  • Stop irrigation leaks
  • Choose wise plants wisely
  • Water, water, where are you?
  • Control the slopes
  • Calculate drip intake
  • Grass be gone #1
  • Gauge plants by water/sq. ft.
  • Do less to get more
  • Read the meter and reap
  • Yesterday, today, tomorrow
  • Pack it in when plants die
  • Abolish open hoses
  • Nix spaghetti connectors
  • Follow the water
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Latest Photos

Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' - Whale's Tongue Agave
Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’ – Whale’s Tongue Agave
tiered garden southwest of house
tiered garden southwest of house
pathtosacredcircle
IMG_4497
looking up from flat area's knot garden that was formerly grass to tiered slope garden
looking up from flat area’s knot garden that was formerly grass to tiered slope garden
formerlycarex
Formerly grass, now Aloe hercules and aloe rubroviolacea
Formerly grass, now Aloe hercules and aloe rubroviolacea
Aloe speciosa - Tilt-head Aloe and Bougainvillea ‘Orange King’
Aloe speciosa – Tilt-head Aloe and Bougainvillea ‘Orange King’
Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue', Dasylirion wheeleri, and Agave franzosinii
Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’, Dasylirion wheeleri, and Agave franzosinii
looking down at lower level knot garden that was formerly grass
looking down at lower level knot garden that was formerly grass
sacred circle
sacred circle
Looking up from lower level
Looking up from lower level
Callistemon 'Jeffers' - Purple Bottlebrush, Portulacaria afra - Elephant's Food, and Artemisia 'Powis Castle' - Wormwood
Callistemon ‘Jeffers’ – Purple Bottlebrush, Portulacaria afra – Elephant’s Food, and Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ – Wormwood
Agave attenuata 'Ray of Light'
Agave attenuata ‘Ray of Light’
Entrance garden
Entrance garden
Little stone man
Little stone man
formerly grass, now stone bench terraced into hillside
formerly grass, now stone bench terraced into hillside
Pisonia umbellifera 'Variegata' - Map Plant
Pisonia umbellifera ‘Variegata’ – Map Plant
Salvia leucantha 'Midnight'
Salvia leucantha ‘Midnight’
formerly grass, now Dudleya brittonii in succulent knot garden
formerly grass, now Dudleya brittonii in succulent knot garden
formerlyuppergrass
Formerly Ceonythus Yankee Point, now as of Nov. 2016 Rhagodia spinescens, Coprosma kirkii 'Variegata', Yucca linearifolia, Graptopetalum paraguayense
Formerly Ceonythus Yankee Point, now as of Nov. 2016 Rhagodia spinescens, Coprosma kirkii ‘Variegata’, Yucca linearifolia, Graptopetalum paraguayense
Formerly grass, now knot garden
Formerly grass, now knot garden
Phormium 'Guardsman' - Guardsman New Zealand Flax - and Max
Phormium ‘Guardsman’ – Guardsman New Zealand Flax – and Max
formerly grass, now log bench and small terrace along upper level path
formerly grass, now log bench and small terrace along upper level path
Kate on steps to upper level - formerly grass
Agave 'Blue Glow' - formerly carex

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