The way forward

It has been only recently that we have heard the term “water management industry” to describe the work we do on turf and landscapes. There has been a rapid shift in the baseline of what is expected from landscape contractors.

Many contractors go out the door in the morning to do what they did yesterday. And what they did yesterday was a business model built primarily on turf care, with everything else considered an extra. Doing irrigation typically meant installing sprinklers and maybe a timer. In many cases, the timer was installed and left in the default program and the entire landscape was irrigated as if it were one crop. Likewise, our industry, without hesitation, embraced any product that accelerated production and decreased labor cost, regardless of its attributes.

Those days are over. There is increased demand on a water supply that is unreliable and finite. As a consequence, fundamental notions of water rights have changed. This has led to increasingly stringent mandates about water use. Federal, state and local governments are now directly involved in mandates about water use, and in many cases prescribe the type and nature of products that can be used in irrigation systems and in the landscape.

All over the country, there is talk that the use of potable water on the landscape will end in the not too distant future. In the past, water management in the landscape industry was rarely a priority. Now the contractor that does not understand the critical importance of correct pressure, spacing and active management of irrigation schedules tailored to different crops, and who doesn’t factor in weather, soil type, slope and precipitation rate, will not be able to compete. This depth of knowledge will be the minimum to play the game, never mind winning it.

The way forward for any contractor who wants to secure his future must include education and training of his staff, as well as their ability to communicate and educate their customers about the complexities of local mandates, and the environmental consequences of products used in their landscape. Gone are the days of a simple reliance on a product or product line. The future is about performance-based contracting.

In addition to training staff about the principles of water management and educating the client, another key for contractors is to learn about the ecology of the areas they work. This knowledge should inform many of the key decisions made about the landscape. It is the ecology that should inform landscape management decisions, as opposed to product-generated decisions. The foundation for any landscape is the soil, and the contractor that can build the soil in a cost-effective way without negatively impacting the local ecology will succeed.

Understanding the impact of landscape management practices on the environment was not even a consideration until recently. Performance-based contracting will make the contractor accountable for the lifetime of the product used in the landscape. In other words, if the chemical you used on Tuesday to control aphids shows up in the nearby fishing hole on Sunday, you will be responsible for the consequences. Again, the contractor who can educate the customer about the changes in cultural practices that makes the landscape more beautiful and environmentally friendly is the contractor who will be positioned for long-term success.

Changes in the environment and society have demanded a water management industry. This industry has to put environmental metrics to what it does, while taking a holistic and integrated approach to soil and irrigation. To do anything less will be to fail the communities we serve.