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How to Save Water in Your Garden©

By: Arlene Wright Correll

The summer of 2007 was wicked in our part of Kentucky. We had record high temperatures and a drought and for the first time I can remember living here water ban. Our gardens were suffering. The farmers were suffering and daily we could see the stock ponds dropping.

Our sprinkler systems could not keep up with the heat and the water was being wasted so we finally turned them off. They should have been replaced with drip systems anyway. We used some of our few soaker hoses in the places we tried to save and they worked.

We beefed up our mulching and that helped a little. We would go for 3 or 4 weeks with no rain.

We could not revamp the garden in mid summer. It was too darn hot and besides this Kentucky clay would need a jack hammer at this point. So I watched a lot of good work and money melt away and as it did I used the time to think of what I could do to create a water wise garden.

I would do the following:

1. I would put in a drip system wherever I could afford to.

2. I would plant drought tolerant perennials and annuals.

3. I would increase my mulching because mulching and composting will increase water retention by about 70%.

4. I would review my container gardening tactics since pots and containers require more water than plants in the ground.

5. I would use low phosphorus detergents and recycle my kitchen sink grey water.

6. If I was building a new home this would be the time to really think about diverting and using my grey water into my gardens.

7. I would use my grey water only during prolonged dry periods.

8. I would research some of my existing plants and find out which ones could go the longest with the least water.

9. I would put a bucket on my kitchen counter and use it to collect the cold water as I wait for the hot water. Our hot water comes a long way and I knew I was wasting water by letter it go down the drain instead of collecting it. I would use this water to put on my house plants and into my container garden pots.

10. I would make sure this grey water was used in the evening and not left over 24 hours in the bucket or I would be creating a potential health hazard.

11. I would change the time on my water fountains so they did their magic for a shorter time and I would learn to live with it.

12. I would use a collection tank, barrel or container that I could move in my old age to collect rain water and I would use that a few days later when the plants needed it. One problem about rainwater collection containers is they can easily attract mosquitoes.

13. I had all ready connected underground perforated pipes attached to my gutter drain spouts that went through my gardens and that may be something for you to consider.

Well these are just some of the things I thought of and we all need to consider how to conserve water because we will need to make that a priority as we deal with global warming and especially if we still want to retain the beauty of our gardens.

Author Resource:-> For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Arlene says, "All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site."

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