When it comes to watering your landscapes, such as your trees, bushes, and shrubbery, you have to modify your strategy a bit it requires a different focal point than if you are watering your garden. You need to know how much water your trees or shrubs need based on their size and how much water your irrigation system is putting out. Tweaking how much water your trees and shrubs get encourages efficiency without overwatering or driving up your bill as you watch your plants die.
First, let’s start with how much water is needed for your trees, plants, and shrubs.
Trees need plenty of water to grow tall and strong, but the water level varies at different stages of its life. A younger tree does not need as much water as an older tree; however, a younger tree with a larger canopy diameter will need more water than an older tree with a smaller canopy diameter. At the end of the day, canopy diameter determines your water irrigation strategy. For example, a three-foot canopy diameter requires roughly 11 gallons of water per watering, nor necessarily per day. For plants, it is best to water when they begin to look as if they are wilting. Check the leaves at night, if they are plump and full, you can save on water the next morning. If the leaves are wilted at night, your tree needs water.
Shrubs and bushes do not grow as large as trees and therefore will not need as much water. Their design of a rather smaller “trunk,” they do not need as much water as a tree per watering. A three-foot shrub only requires approximately 8 gallons per watering.
Plants smaller than shrubs meant to add color and texture to your landscape do not require much water at all. A three-foot canopy radius for a ground cover only needs 3.5 gallons of water per session, making them easy to maintain, but also dangerously easy to overwater.
On average, bubbler irrigation systems output the smallest amount of water per minute. They can only output a maximum of around 2 gallons per minute. A drip system, by comparison, can put out roughly 4 gallons of water per minute. A hose will spray out 2-5 gallons of water per minute, which can be beneficial for large trees that need a lot of water. However, hoses can be less-than-ideal for other trees and shrubs as the water will come out too quickly and wash away topsoil. You will need to measure your system to pinpoint exactly how much water is used, but these numbers are meant as a helpful guide.
The common mistake people make is watering trees and shrubs on their leaves, or directly at the trunk, but this wastes water as very little, if any, nourishes the plant.
Make sure that you water just below the leaf canopy so that the water can drip down through the ground directly to the roots. By changing your watering strategy and following this simple guideline, you will waste less water, see lower bills, and healthier landscapes.
For more information. call us, or send us an email, and we’ll be happy to discuss California irrigation services and strategies to keep your costs down. There is always room for improvement and we’re here to help you.
