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The key to resourceful watering is knowing what your plants need while using Mother Nature to your advantage. To get started with your irrigation plan, you’ll need to take inventory of what’s in your yard; types of plants, flowers, grass, pots, etc. If you have no idea what their water needs are, it’s good to check out a book. You can usually look things up by common name, don’t worry about the Latin. The library is bound to have a good book on ornamental and other plants in your area.
You’ll also need to look at the conditions: sun, shade, water runoff and soil conditions. If plants or grass are in the sun all day, they’ll typically need lots of water. If they’re in the shade, you don’t want to drown them. Generally, grass requires a couple of good soakings every other day during the long, hot days of summer. Plants can usually manage with one watering every other day.
Resourceful watering means keeping track of the weather and peaking your water use to coincide with the season. In the spring, things are usually getting a little more rainwater and growing like mad. Still, to keep things healthy and green, you may need to start watering as soon as temperatures begin to rise. By the time you’re into summer, you should be watering at least every other day. As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler, ease off your watering plan until you’re back to no watering at all.
When watering, whether it’s with a hose or irrigation system, put down enough water to saturate the ground around the plants. It’s not a bad idea to soak the ground, move onto other plants and then come back and soak it again. This can be accomplished using an irrigation controller by using numerous start times with short runs instead of one long watering session that will have your street looking like a stream.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to water efficiently is to do it at night or early morning. It’s not a good idea to water plants in the middle of the day. Evaporation is worst then, taking water from the plant and your pocketbook. Furthermore, water droplets on the leaves of plants can magnify the sun’s rays, causing plants and flowers to get burned. Run the hose in the early morning and at night or set your irrigation clock to start then.
Bark dust or some other groundcover is a good idea to help the soil retain the water. It will also insulate plants from extreme heat or cold. You should also keep in mind that pots tend to heat up and the plants inside will need a little extra water.
A lot of resourceful watering is just common sense. If you have a dry spot on the lawn, don’t overwater the entire area; just give an extra drink to the spot. If you have an area that seems to stay wet, turn down the irrigation heads there or skip it when you’re watering the lawn. Also, if plants aren’t doing well, you may consider moving them.
By getting to know your landscape and its needs, you’ll have a program that works and you’ll probably find that you’re not taking that big of a hit on the water bill.
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