10 Ways to Save Water in the Garden

1. Design your garden to be beautiful using plants that require less water.

2. Set a kitchen timer when watering your garden with the hose as a reminder to turn it off. A running hose can discharge up to 10 gallons per minute.

3. Better yet, hand water so you can control the watering more closely.  And take the time to enjoy your garden and a little bit of quiet time!

4. Check your sprinkler system frequently.  Adjust sprinklers so only your lawn is watered and not the house, sidewalk or street.

5. Minimize evaporation by watering during the early morning hours when temperatures are cooler and winds are lighter.

6. Apply water only as fast as the soil can absorb it.

7. If water runs off your lawn easily, split your watering time into shorter periods to allow for better absorption.

8. Water only when necessary. More plants die from over-watering than from under-watering.

9.  If you have an irrigation system, make frequent checks and fixes to insure that it is getting water to the plants that need it, and isn’t wasting water.  (Can somebody start offering a better line of home irrigation systems than the widely-sold one?

10. Use the soil and/or other natural items like bark or rocks to build a barrier to keep water from running downhill away from plants in a sloped garden. That way you will lose less water, allowing more to soak in to the soil below the plants.