Better together

Sometimes what the client wants and what’s possible are two different things, which can be frustrating. But there are ways to work around and with a difficult customer.

Say a property owner wants to have a nice looking lawn, but water restrictions in the state are making it hard to keep grass looking green. The solution can be as simple as trying a new kind of turf. Bluegrass, for instance, can handle a little bit of drought without looking tired and worn out. While it likes to have a certain amount of water to take on “that kelpy green, lush appearance,” Stephen Smith of Regenesis Management Group and past president of the American Society of Irrigation Consultants, says it can handle a lot less.

He says that while 30 inches of application of a year would be considered a suitable amount of water for bluegrass, in drought conditions, there might only be 24 inches to work with. That’s a 20 percent decrease, but it’s not necessarily an emergency.

“The downside in my mind is very minimal,” he says. “When bluegrass is shorted water, if it’s really got some stress, then it will take on a more of a blue-gray appearance but you don’t start losing your general aesthetic appearance of the turf.”

That only happens if you short the turfgrass by about 80 percent, he says. Eventually it will show severe stress and dieback. “I find that a 20 percent cutback can be accomplished and there’s really not a huge downside,” Smith says. “The huge plus is that you stayed on budget with your water budget and your dollars budget to accomplish that.”

If a client designs a focal area, Steve Hohl, principal at Water Concern and American Society of Irrigation Consultants member, will try to take advantage of the space and make it large enough to isolate it with its own irrigation zone. Hohl does not advise peppering a few focal plants in a large mass with a different water requirement.  When the water is managed correctly, either the focal plant or the surrounding mass planting will be over- or under-watered. Hohl often provides supplemental irrigation to trees through a dedicated control valve.

“As an irrigation consultant, our job is to help guide planting design and zoning to maximize plant viability and minimize water requirements,” he says.

It also helps to take into consideration what sort of use a problematic area gets. Areas that don’t get much use or attention, such as an area between a curb line and a sidewalk, need enough water to be attractive, but you wouldn’t have to water them as if people were going to be walking on it regularly.

Trust is a key component here, and if an irrigation consultant doesn’t have a longstanding relationship with a client, references and photographs can make all the difference. “For me, real projects and real people they can talk to – that’s completely invaluable,” Smith says.