I'd rather spend time enjoying my flowers and garden than watering
them. I think most gardeners would agree with that sentiment too. Less
work, money saved, land improved, recycling
of natural resources and a pretty landscape to boot. That's what you
can accomplish with these 7 ways to save water in your yard.
Less Lawn Care
Get rid of some of your lawn (and lawn care) by replacing some of the
grass with low-maintenance, drought-tolerant plants. Create large flower
beds (or enlarge existing ones) and plant your choice of
drought-tolerant flowers and shrubs. Mulch the bed with organic material
to help retain soil moisture and prevent weed growth and you'll have
less weeding, feeding and watering to do each week.
Gray Water
Consider container gardening near your front or back door so the use
of 'gray water' will be convenient. Gray water is the usable water we
allow to literally go down the drain instead of using. My hot water
heater is in the back of my home, far away from my kitchen sink, and one
gallon of cold water passes through the pipes and into my kitchen sink
before the water become warm. That cold water is 'gray water'. Perfectly
good water, it's just that I need hot water for my task, not cold. So
instead of wasting that water, I catch it in a large bowl and use it to
water houseplants and container-grown plants on my front and back porch.
Most people have some type of gray water they can use for gardening if
the plants are located in a convenient spot. If you own your home, place a rain barrel under down spouts to catch useable gray water for garden plants.
Rain Garden
Most landscapes have a slight indentation in them where rain water
collects and the soil stays soggy most of the time. Use this wet area to
install a rain garden.
Use plants that tolerate 'wet feet' and enjoy soggy soil, like swamp
rose and swamp azalea, and place pavers through the rain garden (aka
rainscaping). This will improve the soil and landscape view while saving
water and work.
Water Wisely
During times of
summer drought, plants must be watered, but you can still water wisely.
Water at the base of each plant when hand watering and set automatic
sprinklers to come on very early or very late to minimize the water lost
through evaporation.
Less Concrete
Concrete in
the landscape causes usable rain water to run-off and be wasted.
Consider using organic mulch or mulch made from recycled rubber instead
of concrete in outdoor sitting areas to allow rain water to be absorbed
into the ground.
Colorful Containers
Not all
landscape color has to come from flower blooms. Brightly colored pottery
containers can hold low-water succulents and provide landscape color
while saving water.
Plan It
Plan it before you
plant it. Place flowers and shrubs together that have similar water and
light needs and place plants in the right landscape spots so most of
their particular needs will be met by mother nature so you'll have less
garden work to do.
