Is your landscape smart? It can be. Technology originally developed for golf courses and park departments, smart irrigation controllers and rotating sprinklers, are available for all types landscaping from commercial to residential. They do a great job keeping your landscaping healthy, and they also save money!
Smart Irrigation Controller
A smart irrigation controller automatically adjusts watering schedules in response to changing soil and weather conditions. It gathers information about temperature, rain, wind, humidity, soil moisture, and figures the right amount of water to keep your plants and landscape looking healthy.
They work a variety of ways. Some controllers are connected to sensors and measure solar radiation, temperature, humidity, rainfall or soil moisture. Some use historical weather data for your area to project the amount of water needed. Other controllers receive data by satellite or the internet from a network of weather stations.
Rotating Sprinkler Nozzles
Sprinkler technology has evolved too. The latest nozzles rotate, have greater coverage, and are more uniformed in their spray. Their spray is less likely to evaporate in the air from wind, reducing water run-off. In many cases, you can update your existing sprinkler heads with rotary nozzles without having to replace the entire sprinkler body.
New Irrigation Design and Build / Irrigation Retrofit
Pacific Vista Landscape Services can design and build and irrigation system for your commercial or residential project. We establish baseline data based on a digital base plan of existing/original irrigation and landscape in support of the planning process and ROI measurements. This provides an accurate digital record of the location of the existing irrigation equipment [valves, lines and heads] to allow the designer to accurately depict the configuration of the new more efficient system.
We then have an accurate digital record of the location of the existing plants, which allows our irrigation and landscape designers to accurately depict which plants will be retained or replaced. As cost reduction strategy, irrigation designs may include use of existing infrastructure when possible.
Contact Pacific Vista Landscape Services today for smart irrigation installation or retrofit!
Native to Southern California and other southern states of North America, as well as Central and South America, Agave plants are a unique plant that can provide many benefits with its existence, whether naturally occurring or newly planted.
One of the Agave's best characteristics is its ability to grow in dry conditions, making it perfect for xeriscape landscaping. 'Xeric' means drought tolerant and agaves are a welcome addition to any landscape in the arid conditions of Southern California.
Part of the monocot genus, agaves are distinctive with their succulent leaves forming rosette shapes. While they can look similar to aloe, which are also monocots, they are not closely related. Growing much larger and with more substantial thorns than aloe, agaves can be bright green to grey and silvery in color. They store water in their leaves and the leaves are fibrous with thorny teeth to protect them from being eaten. When they flower, they send off a tall, singular shoot, up to forty feet, with tubular blooms, pictured to the left.
Easy to take care of, agaves are super low maintenance. Their roots require air and water so they need good drainage, and can even do well in pots with a cactus or succulent soil mixture that has organic porous materials that helps trap air and keep the soil from suffocating the roots. They grow slowly, but once established, they are very hardy.
In addition to growing from seeds, most agaves produce 'pups' or young plants from runners. They are easy to propagate making them fun to grow.
Agave is edible and is used to make tequila, which is made from blue agave. Also harvested from agave is the syrup, a sweetener which is sweeter than sugar, requiring less for the same sweetness.
Adding agave is a natural choice for a Southern California garden. Having a variety of shapes and textures can make a xeriscape garden more visibly appealing and agave certainly delivers!
If you want help to plan your landscape project, let us help. We have experts in all areas of landscaping, and can handle projects any size. We also offer maintenance programs for commercial and private properties. Contact us today!
Recently California's Governor Newsom expanded the drought emergency declaration to 50 counties in California, signing an executive order asking all Californians to save water by 15%.
Not included in the list is Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco and Ventura counties of Southern California. At this time Southern California's drought situation is considered to be not as bad as other counties because it gets it's water from Federal and state water systems and according to the LA Times, "The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which imports water from the Colorado River and the north, says it has record reserves in regional reservoirs and groundwater banks — enough to carry it through this year and next. Los Angeles, which is partly supplied by the MWD, similarly doesn’t anticipate shortages, officials said last month." Even though all counties are not under the order, it is important all of California tries to save water to help with continuing drought conditions.
Newsom is asking Californians to voluntarily reduce their water use by 15 percent compared to 2020 levels through simple actions such as reducing landscape irrigation, running dishwashers and washing machines only when full, finding and fixing leaks, installing water-efficient showerheads and taking shorter showers. These voluntary efforts complement specific local conservation mandates already in place in some communities experiencing acute water shortage conditions this summer.
“The realities of climate change are nowhere more apparent than in the increasingly frequent and severe drought challenges we face in the West and their devastating impacts on our communities, businesses and ecosystems,” said Governor Newsom. “The entire state is in a drought today, and to meet this urgent challenge we must all pull together and do our part to reduce water use as California continues to build a more climate resilient water system to safeguard the future of our state. We’re proud of the tremendous strides made to use water more efficiently and reduce water waste, but we can all find opportunities this summer to keep more water in reserve as this drought could stretch into next year and beyond.”
State officials estimate an additional 15 percent voluntary reduction by urban water users from 2020 levels could save as much as 850,000 acre-feet of water over the next year for future use, or enough to supply more than 1.7 million households for a year.
Some of the easiest ways to save water outdoors is listed below from SaveOurWater.com:
Doing even a few of these can make a big difference in your water usage! Our professionals are experts in smart irrigation, drought tolerant trees and plants, soft and hard scapes, combined with good drainage to create landscaped areas that are totally water efficient! Contact us today and see what we can do for you!
