earth - kind landscape demonstrations
DESCRIPTION
Earth - Kind Landscape Demonstrations. Selecting and Preparing Demonstrators . Earth-Kind Training/Seminars/Conference Sample Agenda Principles of Earth-Kind Landscape Design for Water Conservation Plant Selection Soil Preparation Irrigation Efficiency Lawn Care - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Earth-Kind Landscape Demonstrations
Selecting and Preparing Demonstrators
Earth-Kind Training/Seminars/ConferenceSample Agenda• Principles of Earth-Kind• Landscape Design for Water
Conservation• Plant Selection• Soil Preparation• Irrigation Efficiency• Lawn Care • Water Conserving Landscape
Practices
Optional Speakers• Mengmeng Gu• Dotty Woodson• Steve Chaney• Greg Church
Demonstration Site Selection• No or few water conservation
practices in place• Demonstrator very interested
in conserving water• Spend money to save money • Willing to adopt all or many
water conserving practices• Willing to collect and submit
data• Willing to share information
with others, allow pictures, interviews, etc.
Initial Site VisitLandscape Evaluation
• Identify elements of the landscape that can be improved with Earth-Kind practices
• Poor Design• Poor plant selection• No soil preparation• No mulch in beds• Lawn performance poor• Lawn cut too short• Lawn on compacted soils
Before and After
Initial Site VisitIrrigation Evaluation
• Poor performance • Clogged nozzles• Misdirected heads• Mismatched heads• Leaking or Broken pipes/heads/valves• Too high or too low water pressure• Irrigation head too low• Grass too high• Tree, shrubs, groundcover grown to
block irrigation• Bad Design• Poor coverage• Water bubbling, dripping or gushing all
the time or just during run time• Runoff occurs before adequate water
applied• Area along road, driveway or sidewalk
stays too dry
Water Conservation ServicesUpgrade Irrigation System
• Set irrigation controller to comply with water restrictions– Day of week– Time of day
• Install/check Rain and Freeze Sensor• Upgrade Controller
– Seasonal Adjustment– Cycle and Soak– Smart Controller
• Check irrigation system for efficiency– Make any repairs
• Correct irrigation design if necessary • Replace spray emitters with water conserving emitters• Convert to Drip Irrigation
Charge to Water Conserving Nozzles
Up Grade Controller
Change to Drip Irrigation
Fix Problems
Other Water Conserving Practices
• Maintain 2 to 4 inches Mulch in all planted beds - shrubs, groundcover, flowers
• Cut lawn 1/3 taller during hot summer• Do not fertilize in heat of summer• Aerate compacted lawns– Add ½” compost to increase infiltration rate
• Don’t Bag It
Long Term Investments in Landscapes
• Add shade– Plant tree – Shade cloth – Trellis
• Use Alternative Water fro Irrigation– Rainwater harvesting – Air conditioner condensate– Graywater
• Rain Garden for stormwater protection– Prevent Erosion