Drought and
Water Conservation - Optimizing Your Garden
By Kent Higgins
It's not unreasonable to
assume that the area you live in has some time in the recent past experienced
a drought. You likely have dealt with watering restrictions, which can make
caring for your landscaping and lawn very difficult. To avoid having your lawn
and plants turn brown, you can modify your landscaping to make it water
efficient.
You will have a green lawn and
live plants, and until you share your technique with neighbors, they will all
have dead plants. The techniques below will explain what you can do if you
live in an area where droughts are a concern.
You
should begin by taking out all of your plants so that you can modify the
soil. Adding compost to your soil will prevent water from escaping and makes
the roots healthier. You will only have to water about half as much based
upon this single change.
Once
the soil is replaced, you can replace the plants. It is helpful to group
plants according to how much water they need. Plants that need a lot of water
can be put on one side of the garden, and ones that don't can be put on the
other side. This way, you won't have to waste water on the more resilient
plants.
Another
possibility that will save water is installing a drip irrigation system. They
constantly drip a little bit of water into your plants. Every single drop
goes directly to the plants, so none is wasted. Normally, a lot of water
seeps by the roots since there is so much water I the soil at once. The drip
system eliminates that problem.
If
all of these steps are still not enough to keep your plants alive and
healthy, it may be a good idea to replace the plants in your garden with more
drought resistant varieties. A good drought resistant shrub is a Heavenly
Bamboo. It looks nice and doesn't need much water. Also, herbs such as
rosemary are good choices for gardens that need to conserve water.
As
far as flowers go, Penstemon varieties such as Garnet, Apple Blossom,
Moonbeam, and Midnight live well with little water. Hummingbirds are attracted
to the drought resistant Cosmos and Yarrow flowers.
These
flowers don't look rugged and hardy like cacti, for example, but they surely
are. It will not look like you had to downgrade your plants to keep a healthy
garden. It is great to have a great looking garden in the middle of having
regulations put on watering.
A
couple of other excellent flower options are the Lavender plant and Pineapple
sage. If you plant any of the plants mentioned above, add compost to your
soil, and employ lawn or drip
irrigation systems, your garden will thrive on little water. It can save your
plants in a drought while saving your water bill at the same time.
Part
of conserving water is having a properly designed garden and lawn irrigation system installed and functioning.
Learn more about irrigation design and systems at http://www.plant-care.com/lawn-irrigation.html
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Copyright
by Kent Higgins
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