A Welcoming Sign

On Saturday June 13th, Big Blue Sky Landscaping teamed with Rotary International to give the City of McDonough Welcome Sign a more inviting makeover.

A few years ago, local Rotarians took the lead installing a new welcome sign just north of the town square.  The sign sits along side of HWY 42 at Alexander Park.  Anyone on their way into town can see this sign.  Landscape Plans had been in the works for a while.  They had the vision but just needed a little help with implementation.

As a new Rotarian, Scott Reinblatt saw an opportunity to give back to the community in a long lasting and profound way.  He reviewed all the landscape plans to date, made some suggestions and called upon his favorite partners, Tree House Farm and Hunter Irrigation for contributions.  Scott then went to the design board and modified the landscape plan to include Beautiful, flowering trees and shrubs that would welcome visitors and residents alike.  Of course Geraniums (McDonough is the Geranium City) will be the center focus of the Seasonal Color Beds all Summer long.

Agreeing to provide the plants needed for this project, the staff at Henry County based Tree House Farm had ths to say, “The folks at Tree House Farm are delighted to help with the Signage Beautification Project for the City of McDonough. Those of us that live in the area know and appreciate what a beautiful part of the state this is. We hope that our participation in this project allows the City of McDonough to showcase itself to both residents and visitors. A Greener Henry County is better for all of us.”

The morning of June 13th was awesome.  The Big Blue Super Crew was on site at 6am to prepare the soil and get all the materials ready for the group of volunteer Rotarians (many of whom were already volunteering in another community service).  Special amendments and Organic Fertilizers were tilled deeply into the soil to provide a nice new home to the new Roses, Spirea, Crepe Myrtles and other beautiful plants to come.

Rotarians began to show up around 9am (on time!) and after a little instruction, jumped right in and got their hands dirty!  The time it took to transform the sign was minimal.  2 hours at best.  However, the lasting effects will be there for many, many generations to come.

Big Blue Sky Landscaping will be the First Corporate Sponsor in charge of maintaining the Welcome Sign for at least one year.  BBSL will also provide for all flower, mulch and organic fertilization needs.  Furthermore, upon the installation of the new irrigation system, the City of McDonough will boast the most up-to-date, WaterSmart irrigation system possible and be an example for the admiring residents whom pass by.

We appreciate the efforts of Rotary and all the volunteers that showed up (we actually ran out of shovels!) and helped us with this project.  The next time you are heading into McDonough, take a look.  Welcome!

July is Smart Irrigation Month!

Fine-Tune Your Irrigation System To Save Money and See Better Results

Residential irrigation systems offer convenience in protecting your landscape investment. Enjoy your yard, keep it healthy and beautiful while you water efficiently, save time and money.

With some simple practices and new technology, existing irrigation systems can be made more efficient, lowering your water bill, reducing run-off and eliminating waste. Waterwise habits will result in a healthier lawn and landscape, in addition to conserving water.

The Irrigation Association offers these water-saving tips to maintain and update automatic irrigation systems:

1) Adapt your watering schedule to the weather and the season. Familiarize yourself with the settings on your irrigation controller. Adjust the watering schedule regularly to conform with current weather conditions.

2) Schedule each individual zone in your irrigation system. “Scheduling” accounts for the type of sprinkler, sun or shade exposure and the soil type for the specific area. The same watering schedule should almost never apply to all zones in the system.

3) Inspect your system monthly. Check for leaks, broken or clogged heads, and other problems, or engage an irrigation professional to regularly check your system. Clean micro-irrigation filters as needed.

4) Adjust sprinkler heads. Correct obstructions that prevent sprinklers from distributing water evenly. Keep water off pavement and structures.

5) Get a professional system audit. Hire a professional to conduct an irrigation audit and uniformity test to make sure areas are being watered evenly. This can be especially helpful if you have areas being under-watered or brown spots. The Irrigation Association maintains an online list of IA Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditors.

6) Consider “smart” technology. Climate- or soil moisture sensor-based controllers evaluate weather or soil moisture conditions and then calculate and automatically adjust the irrigation schedule to meet the specific needs of your landscape. Learn more at http://www.irrigation.org/smartwater/

7) Install a rain shutoff-switch - inexpensive and effective. Required by law in many states, these money-saving sensors turn off your system in rainy weather and help to compensate for natural rainfall. The device can be retrofitted to almost any system.

8) Consider low volume drip irrigation for plant beds. Install micro irrigation for gardens, trees and shrubs. Micro irrigation includes drip (also known as trickle), micro spray jets, micro-sprinklers, or bubbler irrigation to irrigate slowly and minimize evaporation, runoff and overspray.

9) Water at the optimum time. Water when the sun is low or down, winds are calm and temperatures are cool - between the evening and early morning - to reduce evaporation. You can lose as much as 30% of water to evaporation by watering mid-day.

10) Water only when needed. Saturate root zones and let the soil dry. Watering too much and too frequently results in shallow roots, weed growth, disease and fungus.

Best advice for a healthy, drought- and stress-tolerant lawn and landscape: use less water. These tips will help keep more money in your wallet instead of sending it down the drain.

Irrigation Special!!!

After chatting with Sean Ward, manager of the Atlanta Ewing Irrigation location, we decided to work together to deliver a Smart Irrigation Month Special for all clients of Big Blue Sky Landscaping!

Criteria . . . Sean and I both believe that there is a great need to take care of our water resources.  We understand the benefits landscapes provide to a quality lifestyle and the health of our environment.  And, with Water Restrictions lifted, we know that this is a great opportunity to make sure the systems in use are the most efficient as possible.

We wanted to put together simple solutions that would allow clients to retrofit their exisitng irrigation systems and maximize their water usage.  We investigated all the new technology we could get our hands on.  Study after study was investigated.

We evaluated the needs of most residential irrigation systems.  We thought about how after more than two years of not being able to use their irrigation system, what improvements should be made.  Staying true to our mission of increasing water efficiency and providing value, we came up with these WaterSmart packages:

Package “A”  Smart Controller and ET Sensor

Smart Controller technology has matured into an affordable and highly desirable technology that quickly provides a return of your investment by increasing water efficiency and lowering your water usage.  Easy to understand, program and operate; the new Hunter Pro-C controller is mated with the brand new Solar Sync ET Sensor is now only $325 installed! 

Package “B”  Water Distribution Upgrade

Simple, little changes create BIG results.  Something as small as a check valve can save as much as 10% of the water used in each zone (station) of an irrigation system.  Replacing spray nozzles with newer High Efficiency Rotary Stream Nozzles can result in 30% water savings.  And that translates into big saving on your water usage.  This easy on your wallet, great for your landscape Package is only $250 per zone!

Package “C”  Drip and Micro Irrigation

Sometimes the best solution is one that is not seen!  Water is distributed directly to the root zones of plants for a most efficient use of water.  A new Pressure regulator keeps water pressure consistently @25psi and allows for even distribution.  Filtration is provided by and in-line filter assembly. Drip Tubing is installed on top of the root zones and beneath mulch.  Micro Sprays can easily be added and removed for watering containers and flowers.  Drip irrigation can result in as much as 50% water savings.  Pricing is calculated per zone based on the needs of the landscape.  Please contact us for more information.

There you go!  3 Highly Effective and Efficient means of watering your landscape.  Celebrate Smart Irrigation Month with us this July!

15 Year Old Changes the World - Our Future is Bright!

What were you doing when you were 15 years old? Cutting class? Going to football games? Worrying about girls? Well, apparently not young Javier Fernández-Han. The 15-year-old is the latest winner of Ashoka’s Invent Your World Challenge. His algae energy system, called VERSATILE, uses an efficient, modular system to meet multiple needs. According to Javier. “An invention that is narrowly focused on solving a single problem often inadvertently creates more problems because nature is highly complex and interconnected.” Don’t forget: This is a 15-year-old talking.

So to avoid this issue, his system is made up of 12 technologies in six subsystems, which can treat waste, produce methane and bio-fuel, and provide a source of livestock and human food production. The system is designed around salt-water loving algae, and the efficiency is due to the ability to take waste from one part and use it for nourishment for another, and thus the modular nature of VERSATILE allows customization to meet individual needs.

The VERSATILE subsystems are:

• An anaerobic digester, converting sewage and food scraps
• A bio-gas upgrader, turning the gases from the digester into nourishment for the algae, as well as producing fuel
• Vented methane burning stoves, a non-polluting and CO2 capturing device
• Algae bioreactors producing algae biomass and oxygen from sunlight, saltwater, and CO2, and using nutrients from the digester
• Flush latrines
• The PlayPump, which uses the energy of children playing to power the system as well as other devices

And the benefits for the less fortunate are endless, from environmental to quality of life to financial. Javier claims the system can be scaled up or down to match the needs of larger or smaller populations, and is developing an affordable, household-sized option.

For more on this awesome project check out Versatile System.

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