If you’re a keen gardener and also spend a lot of time thinking about how to live in a green way, you’ve probably worried about the water you use in your garden. Even if you live somewhere with a lot of precipitation, it’s still necessary to water your plants and grass when the weather’s hot. And often your garden is part of your efforts to live a greener life, especially when you’re growing fruit, vegetables and herbs. But does trying to be sustainable in one way mean you need to be wasteful in another way? If you want to keep your garden alive but still conserve water, use some of these clever methods.
Plant Carefully
Before you start planting in your garden, whether it’s vegetables or flowers, think about what can survive with less water. You can select plants that will do well with minimum hydration so that you don’t need to water them constantly, even in the summer. You don’t have to have a garden full of cacti to create a space that doesn’t need a lot of water. When you’re planting, you can also think about how you’re planting everything, so you can do so in a way that’s most efficient. You can use methods such as irrigation to ensure that rainwater and what you use from your home goes further so you can use less.
Reuse Water
If you want to conserve water, you need to use less from your home and make use of what’s already available. This includes using water from the house that you’ve used for other tasks, as well as collecting rainwater. At home, you likely use water to wash things that you can use again on your plants. For example, water from the bath, washing up or washing machine might be a bit dirty, but it’s no less hydrating that stuff that’s fresh from the pipes. Collecting rainwater is an excellent idea too, so any that falls where you don’t have plants is useful for using when the weather is dry.
Choose the Right Watering Tools
The tools you use for watering can make a significant difference to how much water you use. You don’t necessarily need to have water sprinklers coming on every day to water your entire garden. You need to select the best tools for particular plants and choose ones with water-saving technology. For example, sprinklers are useful for getting good coverage on lawns but aren’t designed for targeting individual plants. You should use the best garden hose for your purposes, so it’s efficient and doesn’t waste water. But use a watering can if you don’t need to cover as much surface.
Water at the Right Time
Just watering your garden at the right time can make a difference. A lot of people over-water their gardens, just doing it out of habit without checking to see if they need to. Check your soil before watering to see if you need to. If it’s damp to the depth of your spade, it doesn’t need watering. You can also water at the right time of day, for example in the morning or evening when it’s cooler.
It’s easy to save water in the garden if you just use a few simple strategies. There’s no excuse for being wasteful when it’s so easy to find other ways to keep everything watered.