Water-wise or practice gardening dry - becoming more to especially in areas. If have soil, slopes water off a garden visit on high bills watering during growing read to out to money, water more and lugging those around unnecessarily. Ten ways make drop count - Group thirsty together, you water without to the garden; advantage low spots such plants.
- Investigate drought-tolerant - often taproots, grey, waxy finely leaves.
- Avoid shallow water to about inches soil it do good.
- Encourage to extensive systems infrequent, deep, about one inch of water every week if rainfall is inadequate (buy a rain gauge to measure precipitation, so you don't water unnecessarily).
- Mulch bare soil to a depth of two to four inches to prevent evaporation and maintain soil moisture; use organic materials such as shredded wood or bark, straw, shredded leaves, compost or cocoa bean hulls; (inorganic mulch such as gravel or stone chips also retains moisture, but won't break down to help improve soil).
- Don't water between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. when hot sun evaporates a lot of water.
- Water plants at soil level to get moisture straight to roots, rather than on leaves.
- Use soaker hoses or drip irrigation, rather than sprinklers (much of the water thrown into the air by sprinklers evaporates); these systems also avoid wasting water on walkways, patios and driveways.
- Install a barrel to collect rainwater from roof; a modest rain of one quarter of an inch on a 1000 ft square roof yields 150 gallons; rain barrels come with a shut-off valve and hose connection so you can fill your watering can for hand-watering.
- During drought, water large trees by allowing your hose to dribble a small amount of water around the drip-line for several hours to ensure that water is absorbed instead running off quickly. Newly planted trees need supplemental water for the first two seasons, especially in hot, dry summers.
Garden writer Yvonne Cunnington dispenses gardening tips at her website http://flower-gardening-made-easy.com/ Subscribe to the Flower Gardening Made Easy RRS feed at http://www.flower-gardening-made-easy.com/Flower-gardening.xml For more garden care tips, see http://www.flower-gardening-made-easy.com/garden-care.html |