How To Conserve Water in Your Garden

Gardening is a worthwhile hobby for some and an important means of increasing property value for others. In arid climates, conserving water is a necessity. Gardeners in temperate climates with high humidity levels also use water sparingly to avoid too much moisture that can damage plants. In general, it's important to reduce water waste in your garden to accommodate unpredictable rain events and potential droughts. Design an effective plan of action that reduces water wasted in your garden.

Check Water Supplies For Leaks

One way to reduce wasting water in your garden is to maintain regular checks of water sources such as automatic sprinkler systems and faucet connections for garden hoses. Nurserymen and individuals with large parcels of land used for their gardening projects find regular checks of their water supplies to their sprinklers and garden hoses helps reduce water loss. This is the first step in a plan to conserve water in your garden.

Time Sprinkling Systems Accurately

When using a garden sprinkling system, it's important to set the timer so that water reaches gardens after the first morning dew is gone, or at twilight to provide additional water in hot, dry weather. Prudent use of sprinkling systems and monitoring watering duration is another way to reduce wasting water.

Water Meters - How They Can Help Reduce Wasting Water

Water utilities provide a standard water meter that assesses water usage in the home. It's a good idea to keep an eye on this water meter when using garden hoses and sprinkler systems. This meter will calculate in gallons the amount of water used. However, it's usually up to the homeowner to monitor these calculations to evaluate spikes in water use attributed to garden use. A unusually large spike in the water meter reading from one time period to another may be an indication of water wasted.

Unpredictable Weather - Avoid Damage to Your Garden

With today's unpredictable weather patterns, long periods of drought or rainy seasons play havoc with gardening. A short period of two or more weeks of drought can cause serious damage to young seedlings, transplants and newly planted saplings. Gardeners need a ready supply of water to combat prolonged periods of drought. Creative gardeners choose plantings that are fairly compatible in terms of their need for water. Plants that need less water over a prolonged period should be planted in close proximity in well drained soil. Plantings that need regular, daily watering are best placed in beds where the soil retains moisture. Arrange a garden design that accommodates the needs of plants for moisture, good drainage and sufficient sunlight. This helps conserve water when weather becomes unpredictable.

Consider Manual Watering of Plants

For smaller gardens, consider manual watering of plants. Use a one or two-gallon sprinkling can and apply water directly to the base of each plant. This helps control the amount of water each plant receives and prevents wasting water. This is also a good water to monitor the amount of water drained into the soil in small gardens. It's not a good idea to apply water to top and bottom foliage of plants in bright sunlight or in extremes of hot weather. Another way to save on water is to give plants in small gardens a light mist from a spray bottle containing water. Misting foliage and the base of the plant helps maintain balanced moisture levels and further reduces water waste.

Garden Water Meters and Flow Meters

Gardeners have the option of having a professional landscaping company install a water meter to monitor their water use for their gardens. There's a difference between a water meter for this purpose and a flow meter which registers water pressure, distance over which water is carried, as well as the volume of water. Flow meters are basically sensors that transmit and determine the range of flow from one or more water supply sources. Garden water meters and flow meters are relatively inexpensive and are the best way to reduce wasted water. Calculate the distance from the water supply to the garden before purchasing a water or flow meter. Take note of the number of outflows needed to cover the entire garden.