It's Spring and I've got "Garden Fever." I just spent some quality time digging in my garden beds last weekend. As I was thinking about the vegetables I wanted to grow this year and the new landscape plants we want to get established, I wondered, "Is it possible to have a lush, attractive garden that doesn't threaten to break the water bank?" The answer is a loud and clear YES if you follow some relatively simple guidelines.
Before we go over these common-sense conservation techniques, which you will remember forever, let's present some ideas as to why it makes sense to care about using water efficiently. First and foremost there's the money thing. Water costs real money. If you don't believe me, you're not the one paying the bills in your household. Second, unless you live in the rainforest, water doesn't grow on trees and is in limited supply. Our groundwater basin holds a finite amount of water and we have a limited number of wells to tap into it.
On really hot summer days, in fact, we barely keep up with demand and sometimes need to curtail park irrigation just to meet the water needs of residents and local businesses. Finally, there's the energy thing. Each and every drop of water that we deliver in Morgan Hill requires energy to pump up out of the ground and deliver to you with pressure. By now, we all should know that the production of energy is a huge source of climate change. If you care about polar bears, be water-smart. I know that sounds simple, but it rings true on several levels.
Now, on to the techniques. A wise man once told me that it's good to have three (and only three) points to make so ... here are my keys to water-smart gardening.
Have Hydrozones: Isn't hydrozone a great word. Try to work this in at your next cocktail party and you'll sound really water-smart. (Now you know why I don't get invited to many parties!) Having hydrozones simply means grouping together plants with similar water requirements. For example, in our front yard, the two flower beds closest to our front door include water-intensive plants like ferns and fuchsias. These flower beds have a separate station on our irrigation timer and get lots of water during the growing season. The rest of the yard, which is the vast majority of the area, gets watered only once per week. These areas feature water-efficient plants like lavender, sage, native grasses, and rosemary. Some people water plants like this even less often, but I'm a sucker for flowers and they do seem to flower a bit more with minimal regular water.
Water Deeply & Early: Watering deeply sounds simple, but I've found that our clay soils can make it a bit tricky. The basic concept is that you want the water to penetrate the soil deeply. This reduces the water lost to surface evaporation, and causes plant roots to grow deeper, which makes them heartier and more drought resistant. The tricky part here is that you don't want to apply water faster than the soil can absorb it. In my corner of the world, if we leave the back lawn sprinklers on for 20 minutes, water runs off into the drain. If we water in two 10-minute cycles with a break in between, however, the water all infiltrates down into the soil and doesn't run off.
Watering early has two components to it: time of day and time of year. Most experts recommend watering in the early morning hours to minimize harm to plants and to reduce evaporation. If you water at night, the plants stay wet for too long and are susceptible to disease. If you water in the middle of our hot afternoons, more than half of what you apply is lost to evaporation, and the remaining water droplets can magnify the sun's rays, burning the plants' leaves. The second component to watering early is to start your irrigation early in Spring. This helps your plants establish a healthy root system early on, so they won't need as much water in the hot summer.
Irrigate Efficiently: Isn't efficient a great word? Who doesn't want to be efficient? I mean, the opposite of efficient is wasteful, right? Even someone who drives a monster SUV and has a two acre lawn does not want to be considered wasteful. They just like big things. Anyway, when it comes to irrigation, being efficient means making sure your system doesn't leak and that it only waters what it needs to - not the driveway, sidewalk, or gutter. It doesn't have to be drip, though drip is often good, it just has to keep your sidewalk dry!
Eco-Fact of the Week: Most of the water we use is used outdoors. It doesn't make much sense to limit yourself to a two-minute shower if your lawn sprinklers cause the gutter in front of your house to look like the Rushin River. (yes, pun intended)
Eco-Web Pages of the Week: Those of you desiring tips in greater numbers can go to www.sfwmd.gov/curre/watshort/pdfs/spl50ways.pdf to find 50, digestible tips for being water smart. This link is from our cousins across the country in Florida. I guess when they're not dodging hurricanes and avoiding gator-filled swamps they need to worry about water supplies too.
Tony Eulo Anthony Eulo is the environmental programs manager for the city and assistant to the city manager. He welcomes questions, comments and thoughts and can be reached at 779-7247.
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