Irrigation & Sprinkler Systems in West Seattle

Exposure, and it is the specific thing that makes this side of the water different. Almost all of Seattle's 38 inches falls between October and March, so July and August are genuinely dry everywhere here — but a west-facing plateau or bluff garden also takes the strongest afternoon sun and the most wind in the city, and wind removes moisture from both soil and foliage faster than sun alone. The result is a garden that loses water considerably faster than a sheltered inland equivalent on the same schedule. It is the main reason we specify zoned irrigation more often here.

Somewhat, and it is worth being deliberate about it. On slide-sensitive ground, adding water is not a neutral act — saturated soil is the mechanism that moves a slope, so over-watering a bluff-side garden is worth avoiding for reasons beyond the bill. That does not mean avoiding irrigation, which is a modest volume compared with a Seattle winter. It means efficient delivery: drip rather than spray on planted areas so nothing runs off, sensible scheduling, and weather-responsive control so the system is not adding water during a wet spell.

Species chosen for exposure rather than for a catalogue, and it is the more durable answer than watering against the conditions. Planting that tolerates wind, copes with summer drought once established and does not object to wet winter soil is a narrower palette than a sheltered garden allows, but it looks considerably better than replanting the wrong choices annually. Where irrigation genuinely earns its place is the first two or three years while that planting establishes, plus any lawn and containers — after which a well-chosen scheme here needs remarkably little.

In shorter, repeated cycles with zones split by elevation. Water applied to a slope faster than the soil can absorb it runs downhill, so a single long cycle leaves the upper ground dry and the toe saturated while the controller believes the right volume was delivered. Two or three shorter applications with a gap between let each one soak in. Drip rather than spray on any planted area on a real gradient makes a substantial difference too, because it delivers water at the root instead of onto a surface it will run off.