Location: Innisfil, Ontario, Canada
Company: Empire Green Lawn Sprinklers
Featuring Canada’s biggest inland marina, Friday Harbour Resort spans 600 acres with two man-made islands, retail and dining, a golf course, nature preserve and condos. Sean Sparks, owner of Empire Green Lawn Sprinklers, created the irrigation design for the property and began installation in 2017 — and his team is still working on the massive project.
Crews installed irrigation for the landscape around the 40-acre lake, with only half of the west island to complete. The size and scope of the property posed several challenges, including only being able to work on closed sections — and also the need to prepare for redesigns.
“There were architectural and engineering changes nearly daily, so we constantly had to redesign sections,” Sparks says. “There were parts we had already installed that we had to remove and reinstall.”
Sparks and his team strictly used Hunter Irrigation products, including the Hydrawise Wi-Fi smart irrigation controller, PGP rotors, thousands of Pro-Sprays and thousands of feet of dripline.
“I didn’t realize how long the journey would last. It’s been a learning experience,” Sparks says. “If you’re a new company trying to take on something like this, cash flow is something to think about. You need to plan to not get paid for about 90 days. That requires strategic budgeting.”
Crews installed drip lines for planters and trees along the boardwalk.
Friday Harbour Resort spans 600 acres with two man-made islands, retail and dining, a golf course, nature preserve and condos. Empire Green Lawn Sprinklers created the irrigation design for the property.
By the third year of the project, crews installed the water mains and electrical lines.
Empire Green Lawn Sprinklers also secured an irrigation maintenance contract for the property.
Landscape installation crews added more than $1,000 in landscaping materials in certain areas of the project, but the site was not ready for crews from Empire Green Lawn Sprinklers to install irrigation. To keep plants alive, the team hooked up hoses to fire hydrants to water those areas.
With about 2,000s workers on the property on any given day, Sparks and his team built relationships with the other professionals on the site.
