Landscape Management, July 2011
31 JULY 2011 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET SPECIAL SECTION OF LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT Producing profi ts through bedding plants ornamentals trees PHOTO COURTESY RAIN BIRD CORP PROUD SPONSOR IRRIGATION ZEROES IN T HE DAYS of irrigating sidewalks and patios with misplaced spray heads are becoming a thing of the past Irrigation professionals know they need to separate a clients property into manageable zones to provide the proper amount of water for different areas But with water conservation becoming increasingly important its time to start thinking even smaller than zones down to individual plants Thats where microirrigation also known as drip irrigation comes into play Spray heads and rotors allow Green Industry professionals to deliver water over a large area They work great for monocultures such as lawns but trees shrubs and fl owers all have different watering requirements than turf Micro irrigation uses different emitters to deliver different amounts of water to say a hydrangea vs a rose bush It conserves water by being more precise and losing less water to evaporation According to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension micro irrigation is exempt from some Florida communities irrigation restrictions and is being encouraged and in some cases even mandated by several municipalities there In addition to the environmental benefi ts saving water also equates to saving money even more so if an installed irrigation system can be retrofi tted with micro irrigation Retrofi tting considerations The fi rst rule of retrofi tting an existing irrigation system with micro irrigation is not to negatively affect the systems operation A well maintained system provides precise amounts of water to various zones due to a measured rate of water fl ow over time which can be affected if drip emitters are installed Micro irrigation uses a smaller amount of water applied over a longer period of time Therefore its easier to swap out an existing zone for micro irrigation rather than mixing spray and micro irrigation in one zone Because the micro irrigation systems operate at lower pressures than conventional spray systems a means to regulate that pressure is required to prevent damag Drip emitters can be placed exactly where water is needed RETROFIT SPRAY HEADS TO PUT WATER ONLY WHERE ITS NEEDED BY JAMIE J GOOCH
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