Watering The Lawn and Plants
Trickle-Down Economics
What would you do with your garden and lawn if you are used
to watering it a lot, and then a drought creates a watering
ban? Would all of your plants die? The answer, if you start
watering wisely before that happens, is NO.
By the way... Do you know what reveals your house and landscape, enhances the
setting, extends the hours of enjoyment, provides safety and more? Answer
Here!
It is very important to water
efficiently, so all of the water you put on your plants is actually
benefiting them and not being wasted. Common sprinklers and timers
can help any gardener nurture impatients, petunias, or any other plant.
How to Water
In a typical home of someone who waters their own lawn, the water
use for landscaping makes up over half of the water used in the whole
house in a year. Not just any sprinkler will work with your irrigation
either. Some sprinklers
waste around 50% of the water they use, not even allowing it to
get to the plants.
The best way to avoid this and save water is to use a perforated
garden hose. This is called a soaker hose, and it will shoot
up hundreds of little jets of water. Run the rose in a snake-like
pattern through the planting bed, close to the plants, and let
it run to water your plants. This system helps with waste, but
wind and evaporation can still be wasteful factors. By pointing
the holes down towards the soil, you will help reduce some of
this waste. The other waste factor here is you are watering
the entire bed, not just the roots of the plants.
A weep hose is another option. It is similar to the soaker
hose, but instead spraying water into the air, this hose "weeps"
water out of the holes slowly. This eliminates the wind and
evaporation problem. It still has the problem of not distributing
the water solely to the plants roots, however.
Drip Irrigation
Another option is true dip irrigation, which uses small "emitters"
to create a small drip or spray pattern - into the soil. The
emitter is attached on a water main or at the end of a small
hose. The drawbacks to this type of irrigation are clogged emitters
and constantly buying new emitters every time you buy a new
plant.
Oscillating Sprinkler
The common oscillating sprinkler is a common option but not
a good one, since it seems to water streets and driveways more
than plants. Sprinklers like this (overhead irrigation), are
up to 35% less efficient than those that put water directly
in the ground.
Sprinklers using small drops or a mist are even less efficient
than overhead sprinklers putting out large drops of water. With
a mix of misting water, wind, and sun, 50% of your water does
not even reach the lawn or plants!
To help with this problem, you should use multiple sprinklers
with a lower volume of water per sprinkler. This will help keep
the water low to the ground, reducing the wind problem. Large
rotary types of sprinklers such as those installed in the ground
are the most efficient type of overhead sprinkler, with about
70% efficiency.
Overhead sprinklers are not perfect, but work well and are
the cheapest for grass. For flowers, shrubs, or vegetables,
however, the water should be put only where it is necessary.
"Drip" or "trickle" irrigation will do this
for you, and it has about 85% efficiency.
When to Water
You should water between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., when the
air, sun, and wind are calm and cool, reducing loss due to wind
and evaporation. A timer is a great investment to make sure
the landscaping is watered at the correct time of day and for
the right amount of time. They cost between $10 and $40 for
a simple one and go up from there. Irrigation timers can be
as simple as a timer to control flow or a mini-computer. Most
importantly, this device will automatically turn off your watering
when it is done, so you don't accidentally leave the hose running
all day and night.
Another way timers help with efficiency is through "pulsing",
or turning the water on and off multiple times when watering.
Instead of watering straight through, it will split the watering
session into a few sessions spread out slightly. This will help
allow the water to seep into the soil instead of running off
of it.
Water is a precious resource we all need to use wisely for
not only watering our plants but also personal daily use.
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