Going Upstream is about being stewards of Minnesota’s shared natural places.  Upstream Partner The Toro Company recently worked with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to support a critical update to their irrigation system, conserving water as a key way to care for one of Minnesota’s most treasured outdoor space.

Keeping the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s 1,200 acres irrigated, especially after three recent years of drought, is no small feat. Staff members at the Arboretum, located in Chaska, use a combination of irrigation systems and hand watering to keep its extensive gardens and collections healthy and looking their best.

The Arboretum’s current water supply plan is a complicated patchwork of manual and automated systems with numerous water sources. The Toro Company — a leading provider of innovative solutions for irrigation — stepped in with support to upgrade the Arboretum’s irrigation system with smart watering technology that is more responsive to weather systems and designed to conserve water, labor and other resources across the Arboretum’s gardens and grounds. With Toro’s help, the Arboretum is also making plans to create a comprehensive plan that will guide future decisions around irrigation, including overall system efficiencies and effectiveness. 

Toro has enjoyed a long-standing and multi-faceted partnership with the Arboretum since its founding in 1958. Over the years, Toro has found creative ways to provide critical support to the Arboretum thanks to shared values of sustainability, water conservation, greenspace enhancement and more. 

 In addition to irrigation support, Toro has contributed in-kind and monetary donations to the Arboretum for decades, including sponsorships of Gala in the Gardens and other events.  They have provided staff utility vehicles and visitor shuttles while also supporting landscaping enhancements; erosion control; and thousands of hours of Toro employee volunteer time.  

“Toro’s generous irrigation support will make a major difference for our horticultural and grounds crews and volunteers who can spend many hours hand watering due to outdated systems,” said Arboretum Horticulture Director Jared Rubinstein, who is managing the irrigation project. “We look forward to working with Toro into the future thanks to our shared goals of water conservation and sustainability.”

 Toro’s donation is instrumental in the first phase of modernizing the Arboretum’s irrigation system, including the initial design of the system, a central irrigation controller and cable, along with supplies that can be spread over the life of the project as needed.  

Most importantly, it will contain updated water conservation features, which have become especially crucial after years of drought. Changes to the irrigation system are part of a multi-year capital project. 

Though the Arboretum installed a smart irrigation system more than 20 years ago near the Snyder Building and Oswald Visitor Center, there have been tremendous improvements in water conservation technology since then and the Arboretum’s extensive gardens, tree collections, demonstration areas and research fields require a holistic review and upgrade to existing systems. 

“This system will help dramatically with water-use efficiency, overall health and longevity of our plants, and greatly reduce manual watering by our horticulture team,” said Arboretum Executive Director Andrew Gapinski. “It is imperative that we utilize the latest technologies in smart watering systems for a more sustainable approach to meeting the challenges of global change.” 

Loving where we live is made possible by ongoing stewardship initiatives across the state. Thanks to Upstream Partners like The Toro Company who ensure our natural places are maintained for future generations of Minnesotans to enjoy.

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