Resources
Resources for Water Conservation
59
Water Wise In The Pines
Water Wise in the Pines is a Demand Management Program launched by Arizona Water Company for the Munds Park community.
Unsure of how deep you are watering your plants? Use a soil probe or a long piece of rebar with a handle on it to determine how deep you are watering.![]()
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1. Wait about an hour after the drip system has finished running![]()
2. Push the probe into the wet ground to see how deep you can get.![]()
3. Mark how deep you got onto the probe and pull the probe back out.![]()
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Refer to the rule of three to determine how deep you are watering – if you’re not getting deep enough, run the system longer; if you are getting too deep, cut back on those watering minutes.
The key to drip irrigation is the watering depth and location. Use the basic rule of three to help you determine how deep to water your plants:![]()
1) Water flowers and groundcover plants about 1 foot deep![]()
2) Water shrubs about 1.5 to 2 feet deep![]()
3) Water trees about 2.5 to 3 feet deep
Try your best to put plants with similar watering needs on the same irrigation stations. If you don’t categorize your stations, you’ll inevitably overwater some plants and underwater others.![]()
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Here are some possible ways to categorize your irrigation stations based on water needs:![]()
1. Fruit trees![]()
2. Desert trees![]()
3. Desert shrubs![]()
4. Non-desert shrubs![]()
5. Groundcovers![]()
6. Grass![]()
7. Veggie garden![]()
8. Annual Flowers
Once you have updated your irrigation schedule, you can easily run a test to determine how deep you are watering and if this is the correct amount.![]()
![]()
1. Use a soil probe or a long piece of rebar with a handle on it to determine how deep you are watering.![]()
2. Wait about an hour after the drip system has finished running and then push the probe into the wet ground to see how deep you can get. Mark how deep you got onto the probe and pull the probe back out.![]()
![]()
Refer to the rule of three to determine how deep you're watering – if you’re not getting deep enough, run the system longer; if you are getting too deep, cut back on those watering minutes. Find more information in the Landscape Watering by the Number guide: bit.ly/3F0bqMP
See a drip emitter near the base of a plant? Move it! The roots at the base of the plants are anchoring roots - not water-absorbing roots. When emitters are not moved away from the base of a plant:![]()
1) You avoid watering the roots that best absorb water.![]()
2) You are not encouraging the roots to expand out and help anchor the plant so that it doesn’t fall over during a heavy storm.![]()
3) You expose the base of the trunk to constant moisture which can introduce diseases and pests to beloved plants!
