When you have a garden, it requires water. But it doesn’t necessarily need that much water, and you can convert your yard or garden into one that can survive with less water.
As you may or may not know, the average American family uses 300 gallons of water, and 70 percent of this is from indoors. The remaining 30 percent used outdoors can be much more in drier areas and landscapes that need larger amounts of water.
Saving water in your garden may seem time-consuming or a little difficult, but once you get used to it, it’s not difficult at all. It takes a certain willingness for a person to switch to a more eco-friendly yard, so don’t feel you’re being pressured or obligated to do so.
When you have an eco-friendly yard, lawn, or garden, not only you’re saving water, but you’re saving money as well by reducing your utility bills and protecting your community’s water supply. You can even invest in a Trex Seclusion composite fence for your garden, which is more environment-friendly and effortless to maintain.
You can start saving water by starting inside your homes, such as with your laundry, dishwashing, bathing, and showering. Saving water while taking care of a garden or a lawn may seem impossible, but there are ways to do this.
Watering your plants at the right time
It’s easy to over-water the plants in your garden. Doing this is not only wasteful, but you’re tiring yourself y doing more and longer work. To know how much water your plants need, check the soil, whether they’re damp or dry, before you water. If they’re dry, that’s the perfect time to water them. You can take note of this regularly, so once you get used to it, you can put it in your schedule when the right time to water your plants is.
However, take note that different types of soils feel different, whether they’re damp or dry. Clay soil might feel damp whether it’s irrigated. If you have sandy soil, it can feel dry even after watering it. In this case, you can watch out for your plants if they’re showing signs of water needs.
The right time to water plants may vary, but it’s usually best to do it before a drought, so you can keep them moisturized and prevent them from water deficiency. Another great time to water your plants is in the evening when it’s cooler. This way, you can avoid faster evaporation. Just be careful not to water too much.
Using the proper amount of water
To do this, you must know your plants and your soil well to figure out how much water they need and how often they need it because it is based on their type. Heavy soil types require less watering than light sandy ones. Clay soil types can be watered less often but more amounts at a time.
Reusing old water
Collecting rainwater and using it for watering your plants can preserve water in your home. You can also collect water from baths, showers, and washing machines and reuse them on your lawn. For this, you can invest in gray water diverters to direct the water to an irrigation system.
Most household soaps and detergents are harmless to plants. Contaminated water contains bleach, disinfectant, and other strong cleaning solutions. Not only can they harm plants, but they can also ruin your soil structure.
Choose a type of grass that requires less water
Choose an alternative lawn cover or switch to a type of grass that can handle drought and need less water. Types such as tall fescue, fine fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, Bermuda grass, and perennial ryegrass are the ones that can survive less watering and drought. If you think this isn’t for you, you can switch to a hardscape.
Learning more about water-saving technology
It’s imperative for you to know how much water your plants need before watering them, whatever type of landscape or yard you may have. Smart watering technologies can reduce your pesticides and fertilizers and maintain your irrigation system. With this, you can water your plants at the right amount and right time with much less effort.
Water-saving technologies can also help you monitor the weather or the soil and inform you when and how much water your plants need at a particular time.
It can never hurt when you’ve decided to make changes in your lifestyle that can also help the world. This type of change doesn’t even have to be abrupt. The least you can do is be aware and learn more about how to do such noble and environmental things and figure out whether you’re willing to do it. Remember that you can do just one good deed, and the rest can follow.
