Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Drought Tolerant Landscaping Category
Click here to view all posts

Save water by learning how much your plants really need

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 6, 2009 at 6:12 am

From AlterNet:

Mention watering, and the first thing we think of is how we can garden so that we don’t have to water. If a garden’s soil is rich with humus, the decomposing organic matter will absorb water like a sponge and hold in the moisture, making it available to growing plants. Mulching also makes for moist soil, because it prevents the evaporation of water from the ground’s surface. That’s why, in American Intensive Gardening, we grow plants close together to form a living mulch. Just like a miniature rainforest, the canopy of leaves shades the soil, keeping it cooler and reducing moisture loss through evaporation.

Recently we came across some old gardening notes that indicated that in 1978 we had had to water our garden for the first time in its nine-year history. In fact, until the past few years watering has never been a consistent part of our gardening activities. We might have watered seedbeds or seedlings, but we rarely found it necessary to provide additional water for growing plants. But our climate seems to have changed so much in recent years that we now begin watering in May and continue through the course of the summer. In addition, the lack of snow cover in our area over the past few winters has given us spring seasons with little surface moisture. This new need to water has helped us empathize with gardeners who live in arid regions of the country. We have learned, much to our dismay, just how time-consuming watering a garden can be.

Read more from AlterNet by clicking here.

June 6, 2009 · Filed Under Drought Tolerant Landscaping

Comments

Leave a Reply