Editor’s note: “Time for some good news” is a regular feature that will spotlight the good deeds, great people and positive stories in the landscaping industry. If you have your own good news to share, reach out to either Seth Jones at sjones@northcoastmedia.net or Scott Hollister at shollister@northcoastmedia.net.
Justin Richards got his start in the irrigation industry in 2008 after a sudden career change. Sixteen years later, in 2024, Hunter Industries named Richards the winner of the Ann Hunter-Welborn Circle of Excellence Award.
The award honors individuals, companies and organizations demonstrating exceptional commitment to environmental stewardship, water conservation, local community support and other sustainability initiatives.
Richards, or SprinklerDude as he’s known online, fits that bill with more than 50,000 followers across social media, with whom he shares irrigation tips and tricks.
“I’m trying to focus on water conservation and the proper use of water,” Richards says. “You can still have a lush green lawn and not throw water all over the sidewalk at the same time. I try to educate at all levels, from the everyday person who may not know anything about sprinklers up to the experts.”
Richards has been with Conserva Irrigation — No. 78 on the 2025 LM150 list — since 2019 and is now operations manager in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
In 2022, Richards started his SprinklerDude YouTube channel, which has since grown to a website with written content that supports anyone with irrigation issues. Richards says his journey with SprinklerDude started small with a video he didn’t expect would gain major traction.
“I love teaching the new technicians that come on board all of my little tricks of how I do things,” he says. “I never thought to do it in video form until I filmed a video of how to push a pipe under a sidewalk using a reciprocating saw in a really funny way, and it actually worked. Two million views later, I said, ‘Oh, OK, I can take these videos and reach way more people.’”
Richards also looks to help those in his community online in local Facebook groups.
“I will sit there and publicly go back and forth with the homeowner about their problem and try to solve it for them in hopes that some other homeowners might see that help and maybe be able to help themselves,” he says. “I also explain where they can conserve water while making these repairs.”
Richards also credits Conserva Irrigation for supporting him as he’s grown his personal brand.
“Juan and Ellie (Lamonaca, owners of the Conserva Irrigation branch in Fort Lauderdale) were supportive right out the gates and have been supportive about it the whole time,” he says. “I have franchise owners reach out to me all the time to ask me questions and thank me for videos that I put out that might have helped them through something they were dealing with.”
Although Richards did have previous experience with video editing and YouTube, he says others looking to start making educational videos don’t necessarily need it. His best advice to fellow irrigation and landscape pros looking to follow in his footsteps is not to be afraid to be behind or in front of the camera.
“If you have a cool trick you’ve been doing for years, don’t be afraid to teach others. There are not enough people in our industry right now. Let’s take the ones we have in and supercharge them with this awesome information we’ve been holding on to for years,” he says.
