This week, my
coworkers and I spent the afternoon touring the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in
order to learn more about their new, state-of-the-art irrigation system.
Andrew
Wyatt,
Director
of Horticulture for the Garden, demonstrated their computer interface system,
the capabilities of which were mind-boggling. (The system can handle up to 1,000
individual irrigation programs, and can communicate with both EV sensors and the
Garden’s weather system.) Once we had a handle on the “back of the house”
aspects of the system, Andrew walked us around the garden itself. We got a
chance to see how the many different microclimates within the garden benefit
from customizable irrigation, so that the Redwood Forest can cohabitate within a
few feet of grasslands and orchids.
View a slideshow of our Botanic Garden adventure.
For more
details on the irrigation system, check out the press release attached
below.
Santa
Barbara Botanic Garden Installs
State-of-Art Irrigation System
Local
foundations fund water-saving system
Santa
Barbara, CA – The
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is pleased to announce the installation of a new,
state-of-the-art, computer-controlled irrigation system. Funded by grants
from the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Hind Foundation, the Smart Family
Foundation, the Stanley Smith Horticultural Foundation, and in-kind donations
from All-Around Irrigation, this exciting new system not only enables the Garden
to replace the current antiquated system, but also makes it possible to maintain
plants whose watering requirements are highly sensitive and beyond the
capabilities of the current system.
Currently,
the Botanic Garden grows about 1,000 native taxa on its grounds. This new
system enhances the Garden's ability to showcase unrepresented taxa that have
more fickle watering requirements, such as water sensitive plants for the
California Native Orchid and Desert exhibits, and the water-loving plants of the
lush northern California forests. The current system utilized by the
Botanic Garden was first installed in the 1920s and last modified in the 1960s
and is inadequate for current needs.
"The new
irrigation system represents an extremely important upgrade to the Garden's
ability to care for our plant collections and provide our visitors with
beautiful plant displays," says Andrew Wyatt, the Garden's Director of
Horticulture. "We are excited about the system because of the reduced
water use, labor savings, and the innumerable ways it will benefit our plant
collections."
A
computer-controlled system, utilizing data from weather and soil instruments,
eliminates the guesswork for watering plants, significantly reducing plant
mortality rates. With precise control over the amount, location, and
timing of water applied, the Botanic Garden will conserve more water and keep
plants greener and healthier. This exciting new project will both expand
the Botanic Garden's important living collection and enhance the visitor's
experience
UPDATE - May 13, 2009
Jesusita
Fire Damage
Source:
Santa Barbara Botanical Garden
Although
a full inventory has not yet been completed, Director of Horticulture Andrew
Wyatt said that losses include all power and hand tools, trucks, bio-fuel
'gators', and a new tractor.
Stored
in the Gane House, a large Craftsman-style home that has served as the Garden's
Horticultural Center for the last several years, equipment was lost when the
Gane House was destroyed by fire in the late afternoon of May 6. One shovel, a
favorite of Mr. Wyatt, was found intact in his unscorched office.
As the
Garden's equipment needs are specialized, it is seeking cash donations to
purchase new equipment for Garden clean-up, maintenance, and re-planting.
Donations can be made at http://bit.ly/hKdFs.
Although
much of the 'heart' of the Garden--its magnificent Meadow, Manzanita, Arryor,
and Teahouse Exhibits--remain intact, it did suffer much destrustion in other
areas. These include most of the riparian corridor, Porter and Pritchett Paths;
sections of the Desert and Redwood Exhibits; the historic Campbell Bridge; the
Redwood Treering Exhibit; and the Director's Residence.