Low Water Use Landscaping

Dan Strombom Agricultural Resource Management Agent

* Conserves Water * Reduces Maintenance * Promotes Healthier Plants

Low Water Use Landscaping is a concept that every person owning or working with landscapes in New Jersey should consider seriously. Perhaps you would like to see your high summer water bills reduced. Residents in some areas also are concerned because their water reservoirs are being depleted. Others may simply be looking for a way to escape the more tedious aspects of landscape maintenance. Low Water Use Landscaping can offer significant help for each of these needs.

The goal of Low Water Use Landscaping is to be as efficient as possible with the use of water for irrigation, consistent with our personal preferences for the type of landscape we desire. This is not an appeal for paving over our yards or for becoming cactus and sagebrush gardeners. Lush, beautiful, functional, and water-wise landscapes can be attained by adopting the following Low Water Use Landscaping principles:

Principles of Low Water Use Landscaping

1. Water only when and where needed

2. Improve soil for optimum water holding capacity and drainage

3. Use low-water demanding plants

4. Apply mulches

To see why these principles will work together to minimize water use in your landscape, let’s take a look at what can happen when we turn on our irrigation system. You will then see what contributes to watering efficiency and where wasting water can occur.

Water Waste Problems The diagram shows that irrigation water can be wasted in several ways. A portion will be lost into the air because of evaporation. On a hot, windy day as much as 40 percent of the water from a poorly designed overhead sprinkler can evaporate before it touches the ground. Evaporation from the soil surface also occurs, reducing water available to plants.

Runoff is another common problem. This occurs typically when the soil cannot absorb the water as quickly as it is being applied. Clay soils, for example, cannot take up water at rates higher than about one-half inch per hour; for sandy soils two inches per hour is the limit. Runoff should be avoided not only for the water wasted, but also because topsoil is carried away. Another type of runoff which is all too common is when sprinklers overshoot the planted area and water falls on sidewalks, driveways, or even the street.

A third obvious pathway to water waste is when water goes down beyond the root zone. This is called deep percolation. While deep percolation from rainfall is how our water aquifers are replenished, this is not an efficient use of irrigation.

Fourth, we need to look at water in the root zone. Even here water may not be used efficiently. Excess moisture damages plant roots because of a lack of oxygen and this, then contributes to plant root diseases. And, of course, watering weeds only makes our maintenance chores more difficult. Finally, if plants in the landscape are not adapted to site conditions, too much water may be spent ensuring that they survive.

Combining these problem areas with our low water used landscape principles shows how beneficial this approach can be. In fact, water savings of over 50 percent have been attained by following low water use landscaping principles.

Problem Solution(s)

To see why these principles will work together to minimize water use in your landscape, let’s take a look at what can happen when we turn on our irrigation system. You will then see what contributes to watering efficiency and where wasting water can occur.

More details on the methods of Low Water Landscaping can be found in the other pamphlets in this series. Your county extension office and local landscape professionals also will be able to offer advice for your particular needs.

Rutgers Cooperative Extension has established four Low Water Demonstration Gardens in Essex, Middlesex, Camden, and Cape May Counties. At these gardens you will see a variety of appropriate plants and examples of Low Water Landscaping Use techniques. These gardens were funded by the New Jersey Office of Water Conservation, local donations, and Rutgers Cooperative Extension.