Nature’s Plan is an expert in our local climate and micro-climates as well as Central Oregon’s unique biodiversity and landscaping challenges. Through intelligent design, installation and management of our automatic irrigation systems plus a thoughtful and efficient backflow testing program we are leading the way in residential and commercial irrigation management for Central Oregon. We are committed to stopping leaks and building happy landscapes and gardens in our High Desert community.
We provide proper irrigation design, matched precipitation rate, thoughtful spacing of sprinkler heads, repairs of leaks or breaks, and intuitive smart programming of your automatic irrigation controller – all part of an intelligent landscape install & management program by Nature’s Path.
Outdated irrigation controllers and products are wasting water:
A typical residential sprinkler system is using 2 gallons of water per minute per sprinkler head, give or take a gallon or 2 on average. A sprinkler zone with 8 heads uses a hypothetical 16 gallons per minute at 2 GPM. This average residential sprinkler zone might run at 15 minutes per zone every other day. 15 minutes x 16 gallons per minute is 240 gallons per zone. If 5 zones run at this rate on a rainy day then a potential 1,200 gallons of fresh potable drinking water runs right down the drain along with your $$$$!
We see over-watering conditions all the time even in these sandy high desert soils but it’s easy to control. Fortunately, a smart irrigation and backflow management program not only saves water and money but your plant life will be far healthier!
Addressing Over Watering
We endorse and support Watersmart and WaterWise programs and the newer irrigation products such as Smart Controllers, Smart Dial Controllers, and weather sensors along with a sound installation and setup by your local irrigation contractor. Installation of newer, low-flow irrigation products can achieve close to full control over most aspects of water waste in the yard.
You may be wondering about the cost of installing the newer “Smart Controllers” but when you factor in the water savings and proven sustainability of these new approaches it’s easy to see what an impact a thoughtfully constructed irrigation and water management system will have in just a short period of time. With the Western states continually experiencing more serious drought conditions we believe that it is only a matter of time until the local regulatory entities and the State of Oregon will mandate the install of Smart Controllers for all new landscape irrigation projects and possibly even retrofitting of outdated irrigation equipment. Let’s be proactive in preserving the water in Central Oregon!
The video above shows one of our local suppliers on the use of newer intuitive Smart Controller for big dollar and water savings. Call us today and get a quote!
Smart Irrigation & Soil Drainage
In addition to eliminating water waste, there are many other factors to smart irrigation and landscape practices. Soil conditions play an important role in how much water is retained at the root level. The sandy soils in Central Oregon make for a narrow drainage profile that runs off quickly. That is, the water does not spread out rather it goes straight from a dripper directly downward in a line. In clay soils water spreads out evenly due to organic matter soaking up the water like a sponge.
In Central Oregon we must add organic matter to get a better drip or drainage water profile. Imagine a dripper placed at the root of your Burning Bush shrub. If only one dripper is there only a small percentage of the root zone is getting the water the plant needs. What happens next is the plant looks sick so you turn on your irrigation for longer periods to try and save your shrub, but sadly the water continues to drain straight through. Nature’s Plan is very experienced in identifying and mitigating such water loss to revive your plants and return your landscape to optimal health!
