Saving Water Outside
July 8, 2008 by Peggy
The last time I got assaulted by a misguided water sprinkler was this spring. It was aimed at a concrete 
sidewalk, and I happened to be walking by at the same time as an unruly dog that jumped on and scratched me. Maybe he didn’t like the wasted water either.
Want to water less? Of course, you should never water your sidewalk or driveway, but other than that:
•Reduce evaporation by watering before 10 am or at night.
•Also, avoid watering on windy days.
•And choose plants appropriate for your climate. SavingWater.org has a detailed Plant List that includes drought-tolerant trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and more.
•Use rain barrels and rock gardens.
Jennifer wrote about this same topic a few months ago. Check out her post for more.
How do you conserve water in your lawn and garden?
Image via stock.xchng.
We do have rain barrels, which we throw mosquito dunks into to help keep out the nasty things. Plus, for our raised beds, we have sections of soaker hoses on timers. We have the timers come on in the evening and only water the beds, but not inbetween beds. They’re connected with regular hose so it doesn’t water where it shouldn’t. This year we’ve hardly used the hoses since we’ve had so much rain. Mostly we use the barrels when we need to.
DH – mosquito dunks sound like a great and very necessary idea. You seem so organized with your timed soaker hoses.
I don’t have a lawn right now, but when I did it was a jungle I inherited from the previous owners. I had way too many plants that needed watering. I finally thinned it down before we moved.
Does not watering your yard count? lol we have no grass to speak of anywhere on our property and all I have are our plants that are in pots that get the leftover water from the shower (I talked about it in a post on my blog). I would love to have rain barrels since we live in the desert but we still have to work some things out.
We don’t water grass at all (it’s mostly weeds but it’s green), just the raised beds for the vegetables. And that’s only when it gets dry. We mulch with grass to keep it damp and then dig it in for the winter later.
Kisha, I hope you’re able to get those rain barrels and you get enough rain!