Watering Solutions for the Garden

Are you watering your garden properly? Many people don't. Today, I will be sharing all about watering solutions for your garden.

How to Water Your Garden Properly

Now that the summer heat is settling in, watering your garden is essential. If you are a beginner gardener, this post is for you!

I participate in a lot of online gardening groups, and one thing I see time and time again, is people incorrectly watering their garden. And then they wonder why their plants are struggling.

Watering Tips for the Garden

My personal tips on watering your garden the correct way are these:

• Water deeply, every few days on an overcast/rainy day if you can to prevent extra evaporation. 
• When you think you are done watering, dig down 6" or so and check to see if the soil is wet down there, it should be! Really take the time to learn how long you must water, for it to get deep!
• If you must water by hand, do not let the water run off away from the plant...this is just wasting water, or water is going somewhere other than you want it to go. Water just until it pools around the plant you are targeting, and then come back and do it again and again and again, letting that pooled water soak in each time.
• Do not water briefly every day: this only waters the surface roots, which dry out very quickly due to the heat of the sun. This is a really common problem with irrigation systems. When you set a timer to water each zone for 10-15 minutes a day, this is really wasted water as it is not going deep enough for most plants. Remember, you want to send the roots deep, 10-15 minutes a day is only going to water surface roots!
• Your goal should be to water the deeper roots, you want the water to go as deep as possible, so the plants will send their roots deeper. This allows them to not dry out from the heat of the sun. This is REALLY important if you live somewhere with hot, dry summers!
• Plants with only surface roots will struggle and not produce well for you. They will always be thirsty!
• Plants with deep roots will be happier healthier plants, and not thirsty all the time!
• Use drip irrigation if possible. Overhead watering wastes a lot of water to evaporation, and also creates the perfect environment for snails and slugs! See my article on Natural Slug and Snail Control Methods
• MULCH! It conserves water, prevents evaporation AND prevents weeds! See my article on mulching: The Secret to Easy Gardening, Use Mulch for No Weeding!
• Consider getting some inexpensive rain barrels to collect water from your roof, and source water in an environmentally friendly way.

5 Watering Solutions for Your Home Garden

I am sharing  a post from CrazyOrganicMama.com on 5 Watering Solutions for Your Home Garden where she goes into a lot more detail. Her article talks about the many different ways to water, with tips on how to do it properly.

She gives great tips on why using a sprinkler is bad, hand watering with either a hose or a watering can is time consuming and physically demanding, introduces Olla Irrigation Jugs, and discusses soaker hoses and irrigation systems.

So be sure to go check it out, and get all the scoop on these different watering methods and be sure to irrigate your garden properly.

 

 

 

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