5 Ways to Conserve when Watering the Garden ...

Adding mulch around plants will help to put a barrier between the sun’s rays and the moist soil nourishing your plants. You can purchase mulch at any nursery or make your own from shredded junk mail, sheets of newspaper, grass clippings, or crushed dried leaves. Layer the mulch so it is at least 3 to 4 inches deep around plants.

Some people water their plants on a regular schedule, whether they need to or not. Stick your finger in the soil to check the moisture level in various areas of the garden to see if watering is even necessary. There’s no sense to water plants when they don’t need it.

Avoid using a sprayer that will mist only the leaves of your plants. This puts a lot of water in an area where it won’t be put to good use. The roots are where a plant requires the most water. Unless you have plants that need misting, position the sprayer so you are watering the ground and not the air.

Utilizing a soaker hose is an excellent way to make sure the roots get first dibs on water. The flow of water is extremely slow out of these hoses. This allows the water to slowly soak into the ground, instead of running off in a different direction where it goes to waste.

If you don’t have to pay for the water you use then that’s an additional bonus, in my opinion. Position gutters along the house and garage to funnel into a barrel for later use. The more water you can catch, the more you will have to use later.

These are 5 methods I’ve used around the house and they’ve really helped lower my cost of water. What other methods of conserving water for gardening can you think of?

Top Photo Credit: biologie.