Water-Wise Landscapes

By Trevor Smith, MCH

Our Irrigation pond here at Weston Nurseries overflowed three times last year leaving us knee deep in water trying to catch plants as they floated by. This season, the pond is at its lowest level in memory and dust devils spin up behind the tractors as they spin and dance along the road openly mocking the concern on our faces. Irrigation and watering instructions seem to be all that is talked about and my “Ask the Expert” inbox and Zoom classes are full with pleas for help and advice.

With 25% of the state in extreme drought conditions, to say the land is parched is a terrible understatement. It’s a stark contrast to July 2021 when we could count on one hand the number of dry days. Hurricane after hurricane came up the coast dumping massive amounts of water on the Northeast.

If the past two years has taught us anything, it’s that weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable and we need to be prepared. What does that look like when the weather and immediate climate conditions are out of our control? Creating climateresilient landscapes is the answer.

Let’s look at this from the top down.

Site Analysis

Take a good look at the light and soil conditions. During my talk at D2E, I mentioned the app Sunseeker. This gives me a good idea for how the sun moves across the property. I also look to see how compacted the soil is and its general make up. You do not need a soil test to discern whether the soil is sand or clay, mineral based or with some organic matter. I also look for clues of how water moves on the property. Is there erosion either from storms, downspouts, sprinklers, or slope? Right Plant, Right Place

It is an often-repeated phrase in our industry, but how many of us heed this basic advice? Many of us design or plant what we want to plant and assume irrigation or maintenance will make up for the difference. This not only leads to highmaintenance landscapes, but it can also result in flagging or dead plants when there is a water ban. Choosing your plants properly is the first step to a climate-resilient landscape.

Irrigation

For an industry whose existence is based on water and its availability, many (not all) irrigation companies or divisions are not at all focused on water conservation, plant needs, or site analysis. At the very least, any new irrigation system should be water efficient; Hydrawise was the system I mentioned in the D2E talk. At a minimum, you should include weather monitors to control the system during rain and wind events. A consumption monitor to alert you if a zone is using more water than usual due to a broken head or hole in the line is also a great water-saving tool. I suggest drip lines in all beds — never spray heads. Drip can also be used sub-surface to irrigate lawns better than spray heads.

Once you have the proper system, it needs to be installed in a waterconscious way. This may require a higher than usual number of zones. For example, if a front yard gets morning sun, but half the yard is in the shadow of the house in the afternoon while the front portion continues to bake, then two zones would be recommended since the portion of the lawn in shadow will require less water than the portion that bakes all day. Newly planted beds will need more water than existing beds, so they too should be on separate zones.

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The most important goal of irrigation is to design a landscape and irrigation schedule to have all beds off of irrigation in two years. Lawns are a separate discussion. With proper site analysis, choosing the right plant for the right place, and setting up a water-wise irrigation system, you should only need to turn on the bed zones during severe dry spells after the two-year establishment period.

Soil and the Soil Carbon Sponge

This is the single most important element in climateresilient landscapes and by far the most overlooked and underrated. Numerous studies and models show that if we were to change our farming and landscape practices, we could reduce CO2 levels to pre-industrial revolution levels — or at least close — in ten years or less. Soil health including the soil carbon sponge is an article unto itself , so let’s focus on three easy, yet highly impactful, areas: compaction, organic matter, and mulch.

We don’t think much about soil compaction unless we are selling aeration as a service to a client, yet it is a leading cause of many of our landscape issues. Compaction squeezes the air out of the soil, minimizing oxygen to the roots and gas exchange in the soil. It also reduces the pore space in the soil, which minimizes the soil’s water-holding capacity. With no air and no water, the life in the soil, which is so crucial to plant and soil health, dies. A plan to minimize compaction should be a priority on any job no matter how small. Repeatedly traveled paths should be designated and protected with plywood or track mats. All areas where machines will be used must have some sort of soil protection on driving and turning areas. A skid steer on wet soil can compact that soil 2–3 feet down. It will take more than an aerator to de-compact to that depth. It’s easy to walk and drive all over a client’s property, but the damage can take years to repair.

Adding organic matter in the form of compost or leaf mulch and bag-less mowing is the one thing you can do to fix many soil issues and create a climate-resilient landscape. By increasing organic matter in the soil 1%, you can increase the water-holding capacity by 20,000–25,000 gallons on one acre of land. Once soil organic matter is around 8%, your landscape can likely sustain itself for 100 days between storms if you have a robust soil food web. Increased soil organic matter (SOM) feeds soil life and facilitates car-

Illustration Credit to: RegenAg SA

bon sequestration. By improving the hydrology of the soil, increased SOM helps reduce flooding. Finally of course, with great soil life, hydrology, and sequestered carbon, you can’t help but have happy plants with all the tools they need to endure or adapt to climate changes.

When I talk about mulching, I am not talking about woodchips; I am talking about anything that armors and protects the soil. While this can include woodchips, it also includes straw, leaf mulch, ground cover, and cover crops. The truth is that Mother Nature is demure and will cover any area left bare. This often ends up being what we consider weeds. Mulching or armoring the soil helps regulate the temperature, holds moisture, reduces erosion, reduces compaction, suppresses weeds, and adds organic matter, which increases the life in the soil. Like right plant, right place, this is something we all know but rarely think actively about. Mulch is not an accessory. Contrary to popular belief and current practices, it is a layer of the landscape, and with all of the listed benefits, it’s a very important layer. If you’re not using a living or green mulch, then choose an organic mulch that will decompose over the course of the season when applied in spring. By the next spring, very little is still in the bed. The more the mulch layer mimics nature’s own system, the healthier your landscape.

Conclusion

Climate change: It’s what’s for dinner, and it looks like it will be on the menu for the foreseeable future. The good news is…we are not helpless. There are a number of actions — some very easy — to help our landscapes survive and thrive during these unpredictable weather events and patterns.

Oddly enough, I have found it’s a return to the basics that will make the greatest difference: Consciously and thoughtfully thinking about how we access and move people and equipment around a property. Consciously and thoughtfully choosing our plant material. Is it what I want or what the site requires? Consciously and thoughtfully protecting our soil, which includes not just mulching, but also the soil amendments we choose.

Think about planting long-term; this disposable-landscape trend is detrimental in so many ways. Realize how connected it/we all are. The plants you choose, the mulch you apply all play a role in creating healthy, resilient landscapes, and those healthy landscapes will help, return some rhythm to the unpredictability we have been facing.

Trevor Smith, MCH, AOLCP, LEED GA Weston Nurseries

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