Gardening is a precious task and
the time is upon us to enjoy the splendor of gardens in spring. Flowers
are blooming, vegetable plants are beginning to thrive, and trees and shrubs
are sending out shoots and blossoms. Soon enough, the upcoming
season will be a hot and blistery summer.
Plants will have to manage water loss and may be susceptible to wilt, suburn
and increased susceptibility to other problems like pests and diseases. Keeping plants watered through the dry season
is a necessary aspect of caretaking in the garden.
Since resources- including time, money, and
water- are precious, lets think ahead about ways to maintain the garden through
waterwise gardening practices.
http://dawnmarie100.blogspot.com/2011/05/water-jug-water-feature-tutorial.html
Good Watering Practices
Waterwise gardening begins with a consistent, water efficient watering method. There are a number of ways to decrease water usage. Take some time to look over your watering system, be it irrigation, timer, or hose. Are you making the best use of available water? The Sacramento Bee reports that landscape water is responsible for 65% of household water usage. And, an estimated 30% of water usage is lost to overwatering or evaporation.
Watering should take place on a regular schedule. Plants should be watered either early in the morning, or late at night. Set an automatic timer for the hours of 5 - 7 am, or after 10 pm. Automatic timer sprinklers are the simplest way to ration out water to plants in the garden.
More specialized irrigation technology includes sensors that measure environmental data like soil moisture and outdoor moisture and wind. Then the sensor automatically creates a water budget for your garden that is responsive to local conditions, limiting unnecessary watering.
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| Water Irrigation Sensor |
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| Drip Irrigation |
Make Good Plant Choices
The second main aspect of waterwise gardening relies on the proper selection of plants to grow in your garden or landscape. There are a plethora of choices of low-water needs plants that will look stupendous in the garden. Try using plants with low to medium water needs wherever possible, to cut down on watering.
Some ideas for low-water use plants include: cacti and succulents, salvias (sage) and lavender, grasses such as fortnight lily, wild lilac, lantana, and trees such as evergreen African Sumac, or deciduous Crape Myrtle. Additionally, native plants have low water needs, even during summer, when they would go dormant in nature. The UC Davis Arboretum has a list of plants called the Arboretum All Stars which are drought tolerant, and great for landscaping in the Sacramento area.
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| Succulent with Lavender |
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| Salvia 'Hot Lips' |
You can always get creative with waterwise gardening. Xeriscaping means creating a low water landscape through the use of low-water needs plant choices and also landscaping methods. For example, landscaping with sand or rock in open garden areas is an attractive way to reduce water usage by decreasing plant area that requires watering. Also, removing lawn and replacing with a low water groundcover or xeriscaped landscape is a great way to further reduce watering needs from garden plants.
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| Waterwise Landscape |
Maintaining a thriving garden over
summer requires flexibility and often some experimentation, so have fun with
it.
Resources:
Low-water plants sold by Green Acres-
http://www.idiggreenacres.com/tipstrends_waterwise.html
UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars database -
http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant_search.aspx
Article "Efficient Sprinklers Can Help Sacramento Gardeners Save" by Debbie Arrington published in the Sacramento Bee 05/24/13
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/24/5438212/efficient-sprinklers-can-help.html
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