- How much water is delivered to your plant when your irrigation is on (number and size of emitters)?

Generally, people are watering their shrubs too frequently and too shallow.  Your objective is to wet the root zone each time you water them, then allow this to dry out between feedings.  The roots on most shrubs here in the desert are 1-2 feet deep.  When your irrigation is on, you can see the pace at which the water is dripping out.  Relatively slow!  Your emitters probably put out between one and two gallons of water per hour.  If you water for one hour, you will have poured one to two gallons of water on the plant, immediately below the location of that emitter, and in a very slow drip.  You can either dig this up one time after watering to see how deep the water went, or you need to imagine it.

The larger the plant above ground, the more roots and therefore the more water needed below ground.  If you have one emitter next to the base of each plant regardless of size, your system is "out of balance."  You need more emitters on the large plants, and they need to be located where the root hairs are that absorb the water.

A good rule of thumb is to water your shrubs for 2-3 hours at a time.  The frequency of these waterings will change with the season - more frequent in the summer, less frequent in the winter.  Watch your plants and respond to what you see.  Many irrigation systems are not balanced when installed.  You get the one size fits all program.  Your irrigation does need to change over time as your plants do.  As they grow, they require more water in a wider area.

Pure Landscape is available for irrigation assessments, modifications, and installations.  Please "Contact Us" using the button in the upper right corner of the screen.