ROBERT TAYLOR FLED HOUSTON ON Friday, September 12, to avoid the wrath of Hurricane Ike. The fate of his home and his company was left in the hands of Mother Nature, and though Taylor, president of Bio Landscape and Maintenance, Inc., a Yellowstone Landscape company...

As energy costs go up, so does our concern over how to conserve. Among these concerns is our water supply. It seems like more and more municipalities are placing restrictions on the amount of water we can use. Some homeowner groups are thinking of posting bulletins to inform its neighborhood residents that they can only water their lawns on certain days of the week for limited amounts of time, but that’s just one option.

BESIDES INDEPENDENCE DAY, there’s another reason for contractors to celebrate July: Smart Irrigation Month. As July is one of the peak months for landscape water usage, it’s a good time to look closely at smart irrigation practices, water-saving irrigation products and water efficiency in general.

The continued emphasis on water control and conservation is contributing to the downsizing of irrigation emission devices, like drip or microspray irrigation, which provide pinpoint applications at very low rates.

Business seek the services of money managers, experts whose job it is to save companies and individuals money.

Take a look at a sampling of headlines from around the nation: “Tennessee Town Runs out of Water,” “Atlanta Drought: Three Months of Water Left,” “Are We Running out of Water?” “Las Vegas Headed for Dry Future.”

When we think of a pump station, we’re usually thinking of water purveyors who are pumping water so your home can have potable water for drinking, showering, etc. Golf enthusiasts might see pumping stations as a way to pump water from one pond to another.

Due to escalating water prices and the drought sweeping areas of the Southeast, Sun Belt states and the West, people are tuning into water-wise practices with more interest than ever before. Water issues can carry a variety of collateral damage. When water gets tight, the green industry is often one of the first to suffer restrictions that hurt business.

It’s time to think spring. Sure, warm weather is still a few months away for most of the country, but for irrigation professionals now is the time to plan for a smooth, successful spring start-up season.

Its green now, but the far area of my backyard used to be brown, spotted and ugly. This was because my expanded landscape had too many sprinklers, and the only pipe to the area turned out to be too small to supply the needed water.