How To Be Water Efficient In The Garden

Tips and tricks from our Facebook audience on how they save water whilst still maintaining a beautiful garden.

Emma
5 November 2015

How to be water efficient in the garden - save water

I know I'm stating the obvious when I say this and we all know it. WATER IS PRECIOUS, however for many of us so is our garden.

So what can you do to save water and still maintain a healthy, beautiful garden?

This was a question I put to our Facebook audience and the response was fantastic. It's great to know that everyone cares and they all have their ways of being water efficient in the garden!

The two most popular responses were to mulch the garden and to recycle water.

Mulching plants is key to retaining moisture. As well as reducing evaporation and water run-off, a good quality mulch will also provide nutrients to the plants and restrict weed growth. I'd say that's definitely a winning tip for a healthy water efficient garden.

Recycling water ensures you never waste a drop. Many of our audience spread their waste bath, shower, sink and washing machine water over the garden, instead of letting it go down the drain. Washing your car, dog, horse or just about anything on the lawn is another great way to kill two birds with one stone.

But it doesn't stop there...

Choose the right plants. Local native varieties and other non-thirsty plants need less maintenance and watering.

Water at the right time. Watering early morning or evening reduces water loss through evaporation, don't use the sprinkler on a windy day either and use a timer so you don't have to remember to turn the tap off.

Save the rain for a dry day. Many of our audience use rainwater tanks to make the most of what Mother Nature provides. Don't forget to pause irrigation systems on rainy days too.

Only water your lawn when it needs it. If it springs back after stepping on it, it doesn’t require watering. When you do water, a good soaking every now and then is preferable to frequent, light watering. Thorough watering encourages deeper roots, giving you a stronger, more drought resistant lawn.

HOSELINK'S TOP TIP:

Ensure taps, fittings and hoses are not leaking. One leaking tap can waste more than 2,000 litres a month*. To check your home for leaks, turn off every tap and appliance that uses water, then read your water meter. Wait 4 hours and read again. If the meter has ticked over, something’s leaking. Use good quality hose fittings, such as Hoselink, that won’t leak or break and waste water.

Please do share your water saving tips in the comments below.

Happy Hosing!

*Source: http://www.sydneywater.com.au/sw/water-the-environment/what-you-can-do/water-saving-tips/index.htm

N.B. This article has been written for Australian gardens. If you're reading this from around the world, we do hope you've found it a useful stepping stone for your own further research.

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Comments (3)

Water saving / plant saving.
Put a layer of course gravel into a styrene foam broccoli box or similar. Cover gravel 2fingers deep with water and place as many potted plants on top of gravel. Fill gaps between pots with paper loosely crunched except for an inpection spot to check water level. This will keep H2O up to plants,reduce evaporation and keep plant pots cooler. Add a dose of maxicrop or seasole to the base water .Happy growing. Cheers Wally
Wally Trew, 8 March 2016

Tricks for saving pot plants from drying out in th
I have made my own self watering pots by simply using common, every day black garden buckets. Use 2 per plant. First you need to drill or cut a few drainage holes in one bucket and then pot up your plant into it and water well, leaving the excess water to drain through the holes that you drilled at the beginning. Next take the second bucket, place a few rocks or gravel in the base to a level of 5 cm and then fill with water just covering the rocks by about 2 cm. Now you can sit the first pot inside the second pot and you have a self watering system for the days of extreme heat such as this week in Adelaide. Just be careful to monitor the water level to keep the plant hydrated but not sodden for too many days in a row. I have used this system for years now and have had great success! Good luck!
Mae, 17 December 2015

Hose Fittings
Our water bill has been a little high lately, so I've just been looking up ways to cut back a bit. I liked these tips, and the part about the hoselink's made me realize that we have a few hoses that leak really bad. I'll have to get some new hose fittings to fix that so thanks for sharing this information with me!
Jake White, 6 November 2015