LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Outside Conservation as Important as Inside


Seth Wright of Wright Landscaping explains a complicated system of reducing outside water use to Lafayette resident Jason Kim at a recent seminar on drip irrigation at Lafayette Community Garden. At the well-attended workshop he explained evapotransporation and how using the right equipment, and the right plants, can severely reduce homeside water use. Photo Chris Lavin

All the chairs were filled at a recent symposium at the Lafayette Community Garden, where landscaper Seth Wright, who specializes in outdoor irrigation systems, overwhelmed his audience with information: Saving water in the garden has to do with the weather, evaporation, the plants themselves, and times to water. Then he threw a mathematical equation in there to account for division by amount of precipitation.

Not that anyone has had to worry about precipitation too much lately, yet his audience was rapt. And the strange thing was these home landscapers seemed to understand everything he was talking about: how the diameter of the hose is essential, how drip nodule spacing depends on the plant, and list goes on.

"This stuff isn't all that complicated," Wright told his audience. "It can be, but it doesn't have to be."

As California's drought continues, the need for people like Wright is increasing. He said a holistic plan for outside water conservation needs to include the plants themselves. Heavy water-drinkers might have to be replaced with lower water users. The right equipment and timers have to be put in place. And finally, he said, never put a drip ring where it doesn't belong.

"Never, never put it over the mulch," he said. "It needs to go under the mulch."

C. Lavin