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How to Work with your Plants: The Revolutionary Idea of Smart Irrigation

Jul 8, 2024

While gardening is a wonderful pastime enjoyed by many people throughout the warm seasons, it is not without its plights and follies. Whether it is the deer making a midnight snack of your newly planted flowers or a sudden lack of rain, finding the best way to maintain your garden is always on a gardener’s radar. Which is why we would love to introduce the idea of smart irrigation! 

Smart Irrigation takes timed sprinklers a step farther by adjusting your water usage each day based on weather patterns and/or the current condition of the soil. These systems have sensors that closely monitor the daily amount of moisture in the soil so it knows how much water to release per day. Some systems even have the ability to incorporate local weather data to adjust your systems for incoming rain! This is both beneficial for the plants and the person! For your plants, this reduces the risk of either over or under watering your flowery friends. And for people using these systems have reported noticeable differences in their water bills, they are using less water than they would with a traditional sprinkler system. 

So how does one go about finding if these would work for your garden? There are a few things to consider while looking for a smart irrigation system. The first being whether or not you are happy with your current irrigation system in place, or if you are looking to install a new system. If you’re content with your current system, there are soil moisture sensors that are designed to integrate with a pre-existing set up. Though it is recommended to do a quick search on which sensors would best integrate with your current home systems. If you’re looking for a whole new system replacement, we recommend looking at brands such as the Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller and Moen Wireless Soil Sensors. Similar to its sibling, the Moen Flo Whole House Leak Detection, this system is built to work wirelessly for easy integration into your household. 

Another thing to consider is the size of your garden and how many stations you may  have. Checking the product information to see how many stations these sensors can handle before purchasing can help save a return trip to the shop! While your standard smart timer is going to be able to hold around 6 to 8 stations, there are some like the Orbit Smart Irrigation Timer that can handle up to 16 stations for those with vast gardens! 

 

The final thing we recommend considering is your current household technology. For example, if your household uses a lot of Alexa products, there are smart irrigation systems that are built to work with Alexa, such as the Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler System. If you prefer to just have your phone, looking to see if the smart irrigation system is more compatible with iOS systems or Androids systems can also help you avoid glitchy system issues post install! 

Regardless, we are excited to see these systems take off and help us with both our water usage and our plant health. So at the end of the day, we can grab our favorite drinks and enjoy a happy garden.

 

Need help selecting or installing an irrigation system for your yard? We’d love to help! Contact us at 636-391-1233 

 

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Ways to Save Money and Water this Summer

Aug 24, 2023

Its summer time and it’s a hot one! When the temperature goes up so does our water usages which is hard on both water conservation and our bills. Luckily, there are some simple ways of saving water and money this summer for everyone’s benefit!

One of the easiest things that you can do to help save water is to check your home for leaks. Up to 10% of homes have leaks that waste up to 90 gallons of water a day!

There are a few things that you can do that can help prevent leaks or catch them early:

  • Tree roots can damage your pipes cause moisture to leak out into your yard. Keep an eye on new tree growth, wet patches and sinkholes.
  • Drop food coloring in the toilet tank, leave for 10 minutes, if you see any of that color in your bowl it means you have a leak.
  • Leaving a garden hose on even for a small amount of time can result in water being wasted over time – make sure you unhook after summer usage.
  • Check your irrigation systems because they can cause leaking underground, be mindful of pooling or sod that is mushy.
  • Check your pipes, it is as simple as listening for drips from showerheads or faucets and if your toilet is running.

You can help save water by upgrading your yard. Making your yard “water-wise” helps both you and the environment, saving you both water and money.

Here are some was that you can upgrade your yard:

  • The addition of mulch around plants and trees will help retain moisture – requiring less watering.
  • Do away with turf that requires a large amount of water and switch to a more natural native plant yard.
  • Use drip systems for older trees, plants, and flowers.
  • Invest in a smart controller that will adjust watering automatically based on the weather.
  • Use Native plants, they require less maintenance and water.

Knowing the best time to water your lawns, flowers, and plants and adjusting your watering to make the out of the water you use can really help too. We use 2 to 4 times as much water when the water is warmer as oppose to a cooler time of year.

These tips can help you save when the weather heats up:

  • If the forecast calls for rain, make sure to turn off your sprinkler system before it starts.
  • Water for no more than 15 minutes per station per day.
  • Avoid watering more than 3 times a week.
  • To limit evaporation, only water in the early morning or evening.

We hope that you find these suggestions helpful and if you have questions about these tip or any other plumbing related question, please call JJ Kokesh and Sons at 636-391-1233.