Saving Water in the Garden

Whether you have been asked to cut back on the amount of water you use or you just know that it is the right thing to do, there are many ways you can cut back on water and still have a beautiful yard and garden. It may take a little more work on your part, but the end result is well worth the effort. Use some of these practical ways of conserving water.

In more humid areas lawns only need to be watered every five to seven days during the summer and even less often in the winter when you would water the lawn every ten to fourteen days. If there is a nice rain storm, watering the lawn can be cut back to watering every two weeks.

In a drier climate you may need to water your lawn every two to three days in the summer with no watering in the winter. Watering gardens and lawns should be done early in the morning when the temperature and wind speed are at the lowest. This will help keep water evaporation to its lowest.

Place and position sprinklers so that they are watering only the lawn and garden areas. There is no need to water the street, driveway, or sidewalk.

Plants usually require less water than what is often used. It is better to water less often and provide the ground with a good soaking than it is to water more often with less water. Watering where the plants get a good soak, deep into the ground, encourages a healthy root system for the plants. The best way to determine if you need to give more water is if the soil feels dry to the touch.

If the plants need more water it is best to use a watering can. Not only is it good exercise for your arms, but it gets the water to where it is most needed.

Add mulch to your garden; try to have about a two-inch layer of mulch. Keeping mulch on your garden lowers the temperature at ground level and also lowers the amount of water evaporation. So, you end up using less water. There is also a side benefit of having greater control over your weeds when you use mulch on your garden.

Another way to conserve water is to place plants under the hanging baskets and then when watering the hanging plants the water will drain and the plants underneath will get watered as well.

Using "grey water" to water your plants is a great way to recycle the water so that it is basically used twice. Grey water is simply water that has been used for domestic uses and then used again after it has cooled for watering plants outdoors. You save the water and then empty it into a bucket and carry it outdoors. There is nothing wrong with using grey water especially if you don't use harsh detergents.

An exceptional way to save water is to save rainwater. You do this by saving the rainwater into a rainwater tank, known in North America as a rain barrel or in the UK as a water butt. Position the rainwater tank so that it will siphon water from the down pipes, and with easy access to the garden.

Using any one of these ideas (or all of them) can help preserve one of our most valuable resources—water.