WATSONVILLE — After four years of drought in California, forecasts of a wet winter mean relief may finally be in sight. While the ongoing lack of rain has taken a toll on the state’s landscape production and water supply, it’s had at least one positive side effect: by forcing us to adapt our irrigation and planting techniques, it’s given us a greater sense of responsibility when it comes to our water use.
During the last four years, we’ve both improved the efficiency of our irrigation technology and implemented a more widespread usage of it. For example, many California residents are now installing water retention systems, which harvest water from home appliances like washing machines (as well as downspouts and trench drains) and reuse it for landscape irrigation. We’ve also increased the prevalence of water-efficient techniques like underground drip irrigation, which uses 60 percent less water than conventional sprinklers.
In addition to developing sophisticated irrigation technology, we’ve become more strategic in the way we plan and design our landscapes. For instance, drought-tolerant approaches like xeriscaping employ natural water-saving techniques like choosing plants that are appropriate for the local soils and microclimates. In addition to installing native plant varieties, many homeowners are installing native grass lawns, which use half as much water as conventional turf.

The New Paradigm of Landscape Irrigation

Discover the latest innovations in landscape irrigation to boost efficiency, conserve water and enhance the beauty of your outdoor spaces.

The New Paradigm of Landscape Irrigation by Jerry Allison

by Jerry Allison, a Diamond Certified Expert Contributor

Video: The New Paradigm of Landscape Irrigation


some people think that things will
simply turn back to normal after the
California drought is over but when it
comes to landscape irrigation what's
considered normal has shifted
dramatically today we're in Watsonville
with diamond certified expert
contributor Jerry Allison of Jerry
Allison's Landscaping to learn more
we've just lived through four years of
drought and although we hope this
drought is over and uh that we can um go
back to normal uh there's really no
normal anymore um we have all learned so
much from this drought and and living
through it and learning to be
responsible for the water that we use
that all our methods have changed uh we
now look at ways we can retain water on
site through water retention systems we
uh actually have water catchment systems
now that can pick up uh downspout water
and also under groundwater from trench
drains can be uh sent into systemns
where water can be pumped out and put
into the irrigation system um and not
only ways of saving water and using
water but choosing appropriate plants
for the soils and the microclimates in
the areas on site that are most
appropriate to those areas so we as long
as we can match the plants to the soils
and uh try and use a good good aesthetic
approach to what we design and build we
will have long-term responsibility for
what we do there are many Lawns now that
are native grass Lawns that um use half
as much water as the old uh Turf and uh
there's underground uh drip irrigation
systems that you can put in that use 60%
less water than overhead sprinkler
systems so we uh have learned a lot from
the drought we've learned to be more
respons responsible we've learned to be
more careful with the use of water and I
think that uh it will stick with us
Landscaping from here on out is
different than it ever was and we'll
never go
back to learn more from local top rated
companies visit our Diamond certified
expert reports at experts. Diamond
certified. org

Jerry Allison: A Natural Development

Companies Rated Highest in Quality and Helpful Expertise