1. Get rid of your Grass: Grass is one of the largest water consuming plants out there, not to mention the weekly maintenance of mowing, pulling weeds and pest control it requires. Most grass varieties can’t even withstand California’s Summer Heat! So you end up watering it even more to try to repair those brown spots that develop during the summer. All you are doing is wasting water! Save money by getting rid of your thirsty, high maintenance lawn. Swan can help come up with ideas of plant and ground cover varieties to replace your lawn with that will require less water and less maintenance. 

2. Weather Based Smart Controllers: Most people over water their landscape and don’t even realize it. A new Weather Based Smart Controller uses Weather data, Evaporation Rates, Transpiration Rates, your specific Plant Varieties found in your landscape, your Soil Type, and more. It uses all of this information to irrigate your landscape more accurately. Not only will this controller water your landscape correctly, which results in lowering your water bill, but it will also save you the trouble of having to adjust your sprinkler system every time the weather changes. It’s a win win!

3. Soil Moisture Sensors:  These Sensors are great! They let your controller know when the soil is dry or wet. If the soil is dry, the Sensors allow your controller to irrigate. If the soil it is too wet, the Sensor puts the Controller on hold, until things dry up again. This way you are not watering your plants when you don’t need to.

4. Give your property a make over: Get rid of the sub tropical and tropical plants in your landsape. Replace them with Drought Tolerant Plant varieties instead. And we’re not talking about Cactus. Chances are the plant varieties you have in your landscape right now…are thirsty! Drought Tolerant Plants require hardly any water. Some varieties don’t require any irrigation at all. The natural water that comes from our winter rainy season is enough water to keep these plants alive and healthy for the whole year. Drought Tolerant Plant varieties tend to require less maintenance as well. Now doesn’t that sound a whole lot easier?

5. Artificial Turf:  Also a great way to cut back on your water bill. The good news about Artificial Turf is it looks more natural than ever before. There are many different qualities and varieties of Artificial Turf to choose from. And it has a 20 year life expectancy. You will never have to water or pull weeds in your lawn again. And it helps cut back on maintenance because it never needs mowing.

Looking for an Upland property manager? Search All Property Management’s directory.

This landscape consists of Succulents, Lavender, Carex Grass, Rock Mulch and Wood Mulch, and Boulders, with a couple of existing Washingtonia Robusta Palms = All drought Tolerant.

We renovated thier existing landscape and irrigation system. The drought tolerant landscape consists of gravel mulch, new low water use shrubs and trees, and a new Weather Based Smart Irrigation Controller.

'UC Verde' Buffalo Grass just planted

This residence in Redlands had an all brown/dead lawn that we removed. After a couple cycles of weed killing, and then adding soil amendements a month and a half later, we planted the ‘UC Verde’ Buffalo Grass plugs.

This picture was taken after just a few weeks of being planted. The Buffalo Grass looks green and healthy…and is growing fast!

We also repaired and relocated her existing sprinkler system, installed an UgMO Soil Moisture Sensor, and repaired her fence.

‘UC Verde’ Buffalo grass after 30 days

This picture was taken 30 days later. As you can see, these Buffalo’s grow fast!

 Wasted water. Without a doubt, it’s a huge drain on our natural resources as well as our pocketbooks. It’s a cost that California’s citizens will no longer tolerate. And yet,it’s a problem that municipalities, private property owners and managers can easily solve.

A recent Western US study concluded that our traditional system of urban irrigation maintainance is broken. Government agencies and private companies rarely have the manpower to properly adjust irrigation for constantly changing rainfall, temperature and humidity conditions. We just can’t afford all the people and time it would take: it’s not in the budget. But neither is the skyrocketing cost of water.

Beyond the waste of water, problems of premature plant death, waterlogged and unstable slopes, pests, disease, runoff, (and a host of others) plague improperly irrigated landscapes.

Is there really any excuse for watering acres of city parks during rainfall? Will any passing resident fail to notice this egregious waste of taxpayer money?

“Automatic” sprinklers are anything but automatic. They offer a low initial cost, which is often swallowed up in the first year of operation. It’s like buying a poorly built car, and then giving all your savings to the auto mechanic.

Today’s gold standard for irrigation control is the Smart Controller. It will frequently pay for itself within its first year of operation. That’s a safe bet, especially here in Southern California. This technology lets you turn down the water, way below the textbook settings.

How do Smart Controllers work?

1.      A local weather station monitors and collects information about the temperature, wind speed, humidity, rain fall, solar radiation, and more. This weather information is sent to your Smart Controller.

2.    You input the information about the plant type, soil type, slope percentage, and sun exposure.

3.    Based off the above information, along with Weather and EvapoTranspiration rates, the Controller calculates the exact amount of water your plants needs per zone. 

Not only does it prevent water waste from accidentally over watering, it also eliminates the need to change your Controller settings every time the weather or season changes.

Using less water leaves you with a lower water bill and the feeling that you are doing something good for the environment.

Swan not only can provide you with a Smart Controller but also can install it for you and help you learn how to manage it.  If you are interested in using one of these Smart Controllers for your properties, please contact us and we will set up an appointment with you free of charge.

Swan Water Conservation

Down the Drain:                                   You’d be shocked to discover the oceans of water that we waste every single day.

Water we have long taken for granted is being depleted at an alarming rate, at huge cost to the planet. Unless things change, our children will suffer for our gluttonous ways. We can no longer count on neighboring states to supply our rapidly growing thirst for water. It’s imperative that we find ways to limit our usage to an amount less than our eco-system’s natural replacement rate.

Serious change is needed. Now.

Government mandate is already in place in many areas. Beyond taking shorter showers, fixing leaky faucets and doing only full loads of laundry, the only realistic way to comply is by severely curtailing your outdoor irrigation. Will our lawns soon be going brown and our planting beds wilting?

Is it possible to cut outdoor water use by 30 to 50%, as we’ll soon be asked to do?

Yes, I believe that we can continue to enjoy our outdoor landscapes, and do so without guilt. It requires a conservation strategy, a bit of know how, and the desire to make a difference. Here’s how to start:

Timing is everything. Replace your obsolete timer with a new Smart Controller. Properly programmed, such a controller will apply only the minimum amount of water needed. They respond to weather conditions, and allow you to program irrigation cycles at the optimal time(s) during the day.

Choose plants wisely. Plant choices abound these days. Native and drought tolerant species are beautiful year ‘round and won’t guzzle water needlessly. Visit our plant selection page for some ideas on how to get started.

Get a water audit. Poorly designed and maintained irrigation systems are huge water wasters. For example, typical lawn sprinklers waste about a third of all water applied. And that’s a best case scenario. With so much as stake, it clearly pays to work with a professional. Contact Swan Drought Tolerant Technology for a basic or comprehensive water audit.

To illustrate the potential water savings, here’s an actual case study:

Swan Drought Tolerant Technology Case Study:

Total landscape area of 13,800 square feet

7,600 sq feet: drought tolerant plants and ground cover

4,900 sq feet: drought tolerant turf variety

13,000 sq feet:  new generation artificial turf

Result: 30% reduction in water usage and matching decrease in water bill.

Swan Drought Tolerant Technologies is a part of Landscape Design, Inc. a California Corporation. Ca contractor’s lic #486431. For more information, visit our contact page.

We started off by killing the existing 27,000 square feet of grass, and conducting several weed kill cycles over a two month period to make certain that the old grass, and any new weeds would not appear.

The Buffalo Grass comes in boxes, such as the packages shown below. Once delievered, our team planted the plugs 18″ oc, and 12″ oc. The Colony wanted to determine on their own, which spacing was the best method for planting. We recommend 9″ oc for faster coverage and better weed control.

Below is a picture of the 27,000 square foot area of Buffalo Plugs. Look closely, they may be small and far apart now but in just a couple of months this area will be all filled in. We are visiting the site weekly to check up on the little Buffalo’s and make sure there aren’t any weeds interfering.

Newly planted Buffalo Grass plugs

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Before

This homeowner attended our Sustainable Claremont presentation at the Claremont Colleges. She called us up  asking about designing a new landscape for her front and back yards for her home in Covina. She also wanted to know about the current rebate programs for the city of Covina. We told her there was a rebate for demolishing her existing turf, and we could plant all drought tolerant plants in it’s place.

After

She had a lawn full of weeds. We conducted 2 grow-kill cycles with Round up, and layed down weed barrier to eradicate the weeds and make sure they wouldn’t come back. After that we re-planted some existing palms and some agave plants she had to new locations in her yard. We planted all drought tolerant plant varieties, succulants, and other similar plants, with bark mulch, and decomposed granite. Her yard turned out pretty nice! She is very happy with it. 

After

Side Yard

Parkway