Company: Professional Irrigation Systems
Location: St. Louis

Irrigation companies often get brought into projects after most landscaping has been installed. Jon Lauer, principal of Professional Irrigation Systems, says this St. Louis estate shows the value of bringing water experts in early on.

“We could figure out the install in a logical way,” Lauer says. “We had a long-standing relationship with the landscape architect, so we could collaborate on what they wanted to achieve and figure out how to irrigate it.”

The property includes a 10,000-square-foot home, a smaller wedding venue and acres of cool-season turf. Lauer says St. Louis is in the Transition Zone, with some properties opting for warm-season turf and some opting for cooler varieties.

“With cool-weather turf, you have to irrigate regularly, and with this much turf, conservation becomes very important because of the cost of water,” Lauer says. “To get turf to look like this in St. Louis in the summertime is a huge job.”

So, he opted for Hunter pressure-regulated fixtures and controllers such as Hunter I-20 PRB rotors, 4-inch sprayheads and Pro 12-inch standard nozzles to ensure green grass with minimal water use.

“Budget is always a topic, but in a project like this, the cost of irrigation is a small part of the overall project, so we didn’t get a lot of pushback,” Lauer says, “They’ve been really happy with the results. It makes you look like a rock star when you can control irrigation for such a large area.”

A 2-acre front lawn highlights the size of the 10,000-square-foot home on the property. Professional Irrigation Systems installed Hunter I-20 PRB rotors throughout the property.

The home’s front drive uses exposed aggregate to mimic an old-fashioned gravel drive, leading up to islands irrigated with Hunter Pro 12-inch standard nozzles.

Natural stone retaining walls contain garden areas irrigated by Hunter Pro 12-inch nozzles.

Turf nestled between the driveway and another retaining wall also use Hunter 4-inch sprayheads.