Eco-Friendly Garden Watering
Eco-Friendly Ways of Garden Watering
Fresh water is very important, because without water all the living things on earth could not survive so finding eco-friendly ways of watering your garden or yard not only cares for both your plants and lawn, but helps save the environment at the same time. Eco-friendly garden watering is not difficult to do.
Eco-friendly garden watering doesn’t mean you have to replace your beautifully manicured lawn or colourful flowering plants with paving, hardcore, drought tolerant shrubs and cacti, but instead think of different ways to collect and conserve the water you use.
Today more and more people are realising that the things they buy and use as well as the things they do all have some form of impact on the environment. A clear example of this is where people have started using their own refillable water bottles and containers instead of buying and throwing away plastic bottles bought from shops and supermarkets.
While other people take reusable carrier bags to the shops instead of using the plastic bags supplied by the grocery store which eventually end up in landfill or the oceans. So now homeowners and gardeners are finding clever eco-friendly garden watering methods by simply collecting rainwater and using it to water their gardens with.
Eco-friendly gardening is “green gardening” which means a sustainable way of watering and caring for your garden or yard inflicting minimal or no harm at all to the local environment. The enhancement of the soil, a reduction in fertilisers and insecticides, as well as using water smartly all makes us environmentally aware as gardeners.
The long hot summers and warm winters means that plants will have more time dehydrating in the sunshine. Water greatly influences a plants health and vigor so many horticulturists and garden experts recommend watering garden lawns and plants slowly and deeply early in the morning Morning as not only is it a cooler time for the plants to soak up the water, but watering them in the morning helps conserve our precious water resource keeping the plants hydrated for longer.
If your home has a garden, then probably you have thought about its effect on the environment when you are watering it. For most homeowners, watering your lawn and garden can be a huge waste of water resources as you may also hose down your driveway and paths at the same time which can waste a huge amount of water. So finding some eco-friendly ways of watering your garden is a must as an eco-friendly garden reduces the amount of watering needed each week.
One way you can help accomplish this goal is to learn how to change your garden watering habits. The roof on a house can collect many thousands of litres of rainwater each year. Investing in rain water barrels, butts or containers to collect the stormwater from roofs and gutters for use in the garden is a simple and cheap way to reduce your clean water consumption.
Plastic rainwater barrels come in all shapes and sizes, big and small, or you could make your own rainwater harvesting system using an old oil drum allowing you to collect dozens of gallons of rainwater at a time for use whenever you need it. So by collecting this rainwater, water butts and recycled barrels can provide all the water you need to keep your garden healthy.
Rain water catchment systems, and a greywater (laundry-to-landscape) systems can be used to collect water reducing run-off and provide a source for additional irrigation. The installation of high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles and a rain sensor for a solar powered irrigation system uses water wisely. Water efficient landscapes and efficient irrigation systems can reduce water waste. So learn how to irrigate efficiently.
Rainwater harvesting and waterwise practices need not only be used in the garden. The glass of water by your bedside table, the bucket of water to wash the car or windows, do you pour this water down the drain. Why not try using that water (called Greywater) to water the plants in your garden, or the house plants. Grey water recycling is another popular way to conserve water from your sink or bath. But remember to use low or no phosphate soaps and detergents. There are many other eco-friendly ways of watering your garden that will go a long way in reducing your environmental impact.
Groundwater resources in the form of wells and boreholes can provide a constant and renewable supply of filtered water for drinking, gardening, irrigation, and other such purposes reducing your impact on the environment. However, if the water supply used by a well or borehole is not replenished regularly by infiltration from rainwater and natural tablewater levels, then it may not be sustainable over the long summer months. Also the water quality needed for garden watering may contain toxic chemicals or high levels of salinity.
Another eco-friendly way of watering your garden is to simply not have a water thirsty lawn or flowery plants to water in the first place. This may sound crazy to some, but laying rolls of artificial grass instead of real grass means you do not need to water it, making this type of garden lawn ideal for those who live in areas which suffer from water restrictions or droughts. The lawn may not be real grass, but with modern day artificial lawns and turf it can look and feel very real, plus there is no mowing either.
There are plenty of other eco-friendly, efficient and environmentally conscious ways of watering your garden too. Water flow meters and irrigation systems help monitor and regulate the actual water consumption making the best effect for your garden. Soaker hoses and irrigation pipes use less water than sprinklers as they are specially designed to seep water out very slowly and steadily through thousands of little holes along their length. Garden plants and lawns can be water in a more efficient way because the water is delivered directly to the plants roots and precisely where they need it.
Another eco-friendly garden watering tip is to choose only drought tolerant plants in your garden that do not require as much water as some others. There are many types of trees, plants and shrubs which happily grow in dry arid conditions and soils which require a minimum of moisture so you will not have to water them so much.
There are numerous plants available in garden centers and DIY stores that don’t require a lot of water yet bloom and blossom all year round with succulents or cacti being a popular choice. Choose native plants that suit your soil type and climate as they will thrive better and help your plant-friendly bugs and pollinators. A low maintenance garden can be very beautiful while offering a lot of seasonal interest as well as attracting beneficial insects, pollinators and other such natural predators.
Mulching using leaf mulch, pine bark, shredded hardwood bark, and grass cuttings help reduce the soils evaporation thereby cutting down on water loss, while at the same time reducing weed populations, and enriching the soil. Weeding also removes those unwanted and invasive plants that would otherwise soak up the soils moisture competing with the plants and vegetable gardens.
These are just some of the eco-friendly garden watering tips and water conservation ideas you can use to learn how to be even more water-wise in your home. If you live off-grid then its important to understand how to save and reuse water as it helps you to keep your water bills down by watering your garden wisely the eco-friendly way.
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