How To Reduce Water Usage In Your Yard
Watering your garden is of course important. However, wasting water is not a good idea. Wasting water means an increase in the cost of gardening. Moreover, soon there will be a scarcity of water, especially during the winters. With just a few tricks you will be able to save water in your garden. You will be using less water and still maintain a beautiful garden. The fruits or flowers that you intend to grow will also flourish well. Learn the following tricks from gardeninginfo-online.com to be able to manage water consumption of your garden:
You should regularly check the sprinkler system of the garden. After the winter season is over, as you return to your garden, turn the sprinkler system and check where the water is going. You may have to adjust the head of the sprinkler to point the water to where it is needed the most. Generally people use sprinklers with different types of heads attached. Sometimes the water from the sprinklers for the lawn overlaps and water reaches the nearby shrubs, trees and flower garden. If the water is more than what is required, this excess water will cause harm to the plants and vegetation in the garden. Remember, the sunny areas need more water than the shady areas. Thus, you need to adjust the watering system of your garden accordingly.
Most of the sprinklers that you get either sprinkles water in a semi-circular or circular motion. You need to place the sprinklers in the right manner for the water to reach only the desired areas of the garden or lawn. If there are any corners in the garden where the water is not reaching, you should not think of plantation in those areas.
In your garden you should always avoid too much of gravel and plastic. This will not just reduce the area of the lawn, but will not help to reduce the water consumption. On the other hand, if you use light colored gravel in the lawn, it will reflect heat and thus, there will be a greater water loss. If you cover areas in your lawn with plastic, the shrubs and plants underneath will face oxygen starvation and will develop shallow roots inside the plastic, which will lead to consumption of water without any fruitful result. That is the reason for gardening, breathable fabrics are better choices.
If you are considering mulch, you need to know that using wood chips and bark chunks are the best choice. Do not use plastic or fabric for making the mulch. The mulch from organic materials will allow adequate water and air penetration. It will also keep the soil underneath cool. if you want to conserve water, you should put mulch about four inches deep. This will discourage weeds and of course help in conserving the water.
You should also know when to water the plants and understand the condition of the soil. You should never gauge the water needs of the plants just by looking at the soil. You should check the condition of the water underneath before watering the plants again.