Gardening
8 Tips For Watering Your Garden Without Wasting H2O
Photo by Kampus Production, Pexels.
Gardening
8 Tips For Watering Your Garden Without Wasting H2O
Gardening season is in full swing! Are you concerned about saving water without sacrificing the beauty of your garden and the productivity of your veggie patch? Read on for tips on how to preserve greenery without wasting precious H20.
During summer, water consumption peaks, particularly with filling swimming pools and irrigating gardens. “In high periods, our water usage can jump by 50 percent,” says Mathieu Laneuville, president and CEO of the environmental nonprofit organization Réseau Environnement. Compared to Europeans, North Americans use significantly more water each day, with some estimates citing twice the amount per person.
However, simple and effective solutions exist to reduce our consumption of water (and our environmental impact!)—especially since the amount of water we use doesn’t always equal the real needs of our green spaces.
Raising a vegetable garden is beneficial in many ways—it helps reduce pesticide use and lowers carbon emissions linked to transporting produce to grocery stores, and it can also encourage biodiversity in the yard. “That said, we should not have to waste drinking water in order to keep our greenery alive,” says horticulturist and author Mélanie Grégoire.
A vegetable garden requires an average of 25 litres of water per square metre each week. But the good news is that precipitation usually meets up to 65 percent of those water needs. Watering every morning or evening simply fills the gap between natural precipitation and plant watering needs, says Laneuville.
Plus, not all plants need to be watered, says Grégoire. Trees, long-established plants and lawns do not need additional watering. However, annual flow- ers, vegetables, newly situated plants and seeded lawns do require particular attention—but it doesn’t have to be drinking water.
Collecting rainwater is the best solution for an alternative source. You can connect a rainwater collection tank to a downspout to store a large quantity of rainwater for both outdoor and indoor plants, but even a simple bucket works as well in small spaces.
How to be efficient when watering your garden
Illustration, Shutterstock/E
Water Less
“We often give our plants more water than they really need,” says Laneuville. So try to simply reduce the amount of water you give your plants.
Time it well
Be sure to choose the best time of day to water your plants. “The optimal time to water your garden is early in the morning, when plants are most thirsty,” says Grégoire, “and there is less risk of water evaporation when the sun isn’t as hot yet, or shining directly on the garden.”
Water the roots
Avoid watering the leaves. “In addition to being useless, this exposes them to diseases,” says Grégoire, who recommends watering plants at ground level. She says you can even use a drip system, which is a perforated pipe installed at the base of the plants that lets the water filter down gently in order to limit water consumption while optimizing irrigation.
Ditch the sprinkler watering can
“I recommend not using a sprinkler watering can to water the entire vegetable garden,” Laneuville says. “This method sends water everywhere, which makes it wasteful and not very functional.” The expert also advises that arc-shaped watering cans are somewhat ineffective, with about 60 percent of the water poured out of them evaporating before it has a chance to be absorbed by the plants.
Design with purpose
Another way to benefit from rainwater is through the configuration of the garden where possible. This can be done with a landscaping or gardening professional if you’re having some work done on your property. By designing your yard to redirect rainwater to areas that need it most, you’re naturally cutting down on your household’s water use.
Enrich the soil
Mix compost into the soil when planting. This organic matter not only fortifies the soil, but also makes it more fertile. Soil rich in organic matter retains water more effectively, which helps maintain adequate moisture at the root level and promotes healthy plant growth.
Maintain moisture
Cover the bare soil between plants with mulch or hardwood chips. This is especially beneficial in the vegetable garden. Just like with compost, adding one of these materials helps maintain moisture at the roots and significantly reduces evaporation.
Choose the right plants
The choice of plants can also have an impact on our small ecosystems. Favour native plants since they are already adapted to our environment. However, this doesn’t mean that we have to give up the exotic plants that catch our eye. “Whether it’s flowers or vegetables, aim for balance and diversity,” says Grégoire.
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