Condo Media - March 2011 - 40

LANDSCAPING

ment plow, but today containment plows are commonplace for snow contractors. Instead of a plow that pushes snow off to the side of the road, containment plows “herd” the snow to its final resting place without dumping it alongside the road. This allows the snow contractor to economically move snow over large distances during the storm, and place the snow piles in the open spaces. Containment plows are now in their second generation of design, and contractors will be able to offer better pricing and a better product for the condominium association by using containment plows. The problem that isn’t yet economically solved is what to do with all that snow. In big snow seasons, snow piles become unsightly and often a danger to visibility at intersections and driveways. Snow melters are available but, at a cost of $100,000 to $250,000, they just aren’t economical in condominium environments yet. Hauling snow is generally expensive and the number of snow dumps is rapidly shrinking. There are companies working on this problem using snow melter technology, but it will be several years before it will be common.

Irrigation Improvements
There are a multitude of technological advances being made in the area of summer maintenance too. Most of the important advances involve environmental issues, which is good for everyone. The most important advances are being made in irrigation systems, however, mulching mowers, propane

engines, hybrid trucks, noise suppressed equipment and plant growth inhibitors also are among the technological advances being made. Irrigation systems are becoming much more sophisticated in their control of water usage. Evapotranspiration (ET) is an expression of how much water has left the ground, be it through evaporation or transpiration via the plant itself (the plant sweats through its leaves just like we do via our skin). Much more water gets used on a hot windy day than a cool, calm day. ET is the expression of that phenomenon (something akin to wind chill factor). So, if an inch of water leaves the ground via ET, then we must put an inch back via irrigation. If only .25 inches of water was lost due to ET, then only .25 inches needs to be replaced. The irrigation controllers can be programmed with an ET number and it automatically adjusts all the cycle times accordingly to replace just the amount of water that was lost. While ET used to be something that was regurgitated from the bowels of the USDA every week or so for large crop farms that used gigantic center hub irrigation systems, today companies can be connected via office computers to private weather stations that can produce a local ET value based on wind, temperature, humidity, etc. What’s more, the irrigation controllers can be set up for access on the Internet. Landscape contractors can connect remotely with the irrigation controller at the condominium site, insert
Pusher Box.

Weather Station.

the ET value into the controller and the proper amount of water will be dispensed to replace the water lost in the environment. This can produce thousands of dollars of savings in water bills and the resulting landscape is healthier because of it. The new irrigation controllers also can have an optional “flow meter” that monitors the flow of water through the irrigation pipe. If the irrigation system doesn’t think any sprinklers should be running yet water is passing through the pipe, the logical conclusion is that there is a water leak somewhere. An alarm goes off and the irrigation contractor can be called to troubleshoot the leak. There are many variations to this theme, the bottom line of which is that irrigation controllers are finally getting smart enough to do what we humans think they should have been doing all along. There are a multitude of technological advances in both winter and summer management that should be reviewed for applicability to your association. The best advice is to talk to your landscape contractor and review these advances with the board or landscape committee. CM Richard Churchill is president of The GroundsKeeper Inc., providing landscaping and snow removal services to community associations. He is a former CAI-NE board member and a current member of the Condo Media board.

CONDO MEDIA • MARCH 2011

Condo Media - March 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - March 2011