If you were able to keep the water that naturally falls on your garden from evaporating, supplemental watering would be greatly reduced. One of the best reasons for reducing your watering needs is greater savings. In many places, you are paying twice for the water you use to irrigate your garden. The first time is when you turn on your water hose and water your garden. The second time is when you pay your sewer bill. When you use water, your local government assumes that water is leaving your home through the sewer and you are billed accordingly. There are several low cost ways to reduce your watering needs.
Methods of Retaining Water in Your Landscape
- Mulch
- Increase organic matter
- Rainfall collection
- Drip irrigation
Using any one of these methods will make an impact on reducing the amount of water your garden needs. Taken together, you can go the entire growing season without having to turn on your water hose in all but the driest years.
Mulch and Increased Organic Matter
By using organic mulches, you can increase the amount of organic matter in your soil at the same time. One of the best organic mulches is compost. If you don’t have the room to build a compost pile, you can use your grass clippings, leaves and kitchen waste as mulch. Grass clippings are an excellent source of nitrogen and will last several weeks in your garden. If you can shred and save your leaves from the previous fall, you can incorporate them into your mulch by either mixing them with grass clippings or layering them. Kitchen waste can by put down first and then covered with your mulch. Kitchen waste should only be vegetable matter, as meat waste will attract pests.
Rain Collection and Drip Irrigation
Collecting rainwater is an easy way to reduce your dependence on your water hose. Divert a downspout into a series of 55-gallon drums to use as needed. Make sure the drums you use did not contain dangerous chemicals and are thoroughly rinsed before you use them. Paint them to match your house or hide them with strategically placed landscaping. If you can locate your rain drums close to your garden, you can run a drip irrigation system from the drums to your garden to deliver the rain water as needed. A soaker hose made from recycled tires is perfect for this system. You can run sections of regular hose to where you need the water and soaker hose along the plants.
A Final Word on Mulch
When collecting grass clippings to use as mulch, make sure they are herbicide free. The chemicals that are released as the clippings break down can damage your garden plants. If you collect clippings from your neighbors, be sure to ask if they use herbicides. Who knows, by offering to share your harvest in exchange for their clippings, you can convince them to go organic also.
Until next time, In Bocca Al Lupo!
