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Roof-Reliant Landscaping™ Step 14A: Water Budgeting

by Nate Downey

A budget is a numerical estimate that describes a plan for the future use of resources. For the roof-reliant landscaper, a water budget is an accounting of the potential use of water during drier-than-normal years. Such a budget focuses on establishing the appropriate plant material that you expect to install according to your roof-reliant landscape plan.

An easy way to begin to understand water budgeting is to think of a typical household budget. In household financial planning, incomes are projected and expenses are estimated. Often, at the end of a given time period, any money left over goes into a savings account.

Similarly, in water budgeting for roof-reliant landscaping, the “income” is projected in terms of the number of gallons of precipitation that can be expected to be stored in a cistern. “Expenses” (or outlays) are estimated in terms of the gallons of water that landscape plants might need. Any water left over is banked in the cistern for future use.

There is one major difference between a typical household budget and a typical landscape water budget. While most household expenses tend to increase over time, a new landscape’s water needs tend to decrease after the first year. That is because even appropriately chosen plants need supplemental water during their first growing year. But once established these plants need less irrigation.

01/01/2016 | (0) Comments