Reduce your water bill 30 to 50 percent — and keep the yard you actually like.
No rock yards. No turf rip-outs. A Utah nonprofit research team re-engineers your landscape and sprinkler system to save water in the yard you already have — cutting summer bills by a third to a half. The Water Savings Analysis is free.
Cut the bill. Keep the yard.
Your landscape isn't wasteful on purpose. It's wasteful by design.
Your irrigation runs on defaults.
Most smart controllers ship with settings calibrated to a national average. Your system is typically over-delivering every week.
Your canopy is cut for looks, not efficiency.
Standard tree services do not prune for structure and evapotranspiration. A lot of applied water never reaches the root zone.
Your species mix was chosen by a builder.
Your yard was probably planted by a developer's landscape crew in one afternoon. Nobody checked soil infiltration, shade angles, or climate fit.
Two systems. Your landscape. A third to half the water.
JLB Canopy Management
Your existing trees become a self-regulating cooling system for the landscape below. We retain mature plants — never remove them — and the canopy ends up healthier.
GreenRx Plant Optimization
We seldom recommend species replacements. We diagnose soil, audit your controller, and prescribe water optimizations. We typically suggest canopy optimization throughout your yard. Your lawn stays.
Four steps from first call to verified savings.
Free analysis
Send us your address. We review your water district's published rate structure, overlay satellite canopy imagery, and return a written forecast in 5 business days.
Site walk
A Plant Institute researcher visits your home and takes soil cores, performs canopy density evaluations, and an irrigation audit.
Prescription & quote
You get a line-item plan with gallons saved, dollars saved, and payback months. Transparent pricing.
Implementation & verification
Plant Institute-certified crew implements the plan. We monitor your meter for a year and send you the verified reduction report.
What a Plant Institute homeowner project actually looks like.
Typical project scope
- Structural canopy pruning on 3–7 trees (JLB method)
- Soil aeration and compost-based infiltration correction on turf areas
- Irrigation controller reprogramming with per-zone weekly minute adjustments
- GreenRx applications for continued canopy reduction
- Mulch refresh in beds with ET-reducing depth calibration
What we don't do
- Rock yards
- Full turf removal in most projects
- Artificial grass
- Removing mature healthy trees
- Aggressive chemical programs
Estimate your savings in 30 seconds.
Design-standard midpoint for homeowner projects. Your written analysis produces a property-specific forecast from your actual billing history.
Your projected savings
Midpoint of The Plant Institute design standard. Your written analysis refines this from your actual water-district billing.
Get my verified analysisHow we reduce sprinkler usage without making your lawn look worse.
Most Utah sprinkler systems are over-delivering on inherited defaults — controllers programmed to a national-average climate, zones that overlap, heads that mist more than they irrigate. Reducing sprinkler usage is a major lever on every homeowner project.
Controller reprogramming
Per-zone, per-week minute schedules calibrated to your soil, slope, shade, and current Utah Climate Center reference ET. No fixed "three days a week" defaults.
Head audit & replacement
Mist, overspray, and mismatched nozzles identified. We recommend rotary nozzles where appropriate — often rebate-eligible with your utility.
Smart-controller integration
Where you already have a smart controller, we wire it to the right weather feed and correct the zone profiles it's actually using. Most smart controllers are not actually smart out of the box.
Every Utah utility rebate we file — at no extra cost.
Utah utilities offer meaningful landscape rebates that most homeowners never claim. As part of every residential project, The Plant Institute prepares and files every rebate you qualify for.
- Jordan Valley Water — Flip Your StripPer-sqft incentive
- Jordan Valley Water — Smart Controller rebateVaries by program
- Salt Lake City Public Utilities — Smart Controller & Flip Your StripVaries by program
- Weber Basin Water — Localscapes RebateVaries by program
- Central Utah Water — Landscape ConversionVaries by program
- Washington County Water — Water Wise LandscapeVaries by program
Rebate programs, amounts, and eligibility change periodically. We verify current terms with your utility during your Free Water Savings Analysis. Our role is to file on your behalf — the rebate check goes directly to you.
Homeowner FAQ.
Do I have to remove my lawn?
What does this cost?
How long does implementation take?
Is there financing?
Will my HOA approve this?
Your water bill has a number we can cut. Tell us the address.
5 business days. Written report. No obligation.
Free Water Savings Analysis
For single-family Utah properties.