Tips For Saving Water For Your Landscaping
By Sandra Dinkins-Wilson, Tue Jan 10th
Do you find your water bill going up each month you water yourlandscaping along with the rest of your bills? You might evenquestion just how much water your landscaping really needs.Perhaps it's time for you to think about how to make yourwatering more efficient so you have beautiful landscaping butsave water as well.
To water our landscaping, we use either some type of automatedsprinkler system or a sprinkler that is dragged from spot tospot. Right from the big corporations right down to thehomeowner with just a speck of a lawn, most people use or wantto use some type of automated watering system. You have probablyseen water from automated sprinkler systems running off thegrass and running down the street. I don't know about you, buthere in the arid West, when I see this, it makes me quite angry.This even can be seen in droughts where a typical homeowner mayhave to water his plants with saved waste water from inside hishome. This is not exactly an efficient use of water. All aroundthe country there are problems with having clean water. It justdoesn't make sense to waste water.
Yet most landscaping owners use an inefficient and wastefulwatering system. Here are a few tips to make watering yourlandscaping more efficient and less wasteful.
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Watering systems for your landscaping vary. Find one that ismost efficient for your needs. A good rule of thumb is that thelarger the water drop delivered and the closer to the ground thebetter it is. Using a system that delivers a fine spray up intothe air will lose much of the water to evaporation and to wind.
Surprisingly, hand held hose watering was found to be the mostwater-efficient way to provide moisture to your landscaping. Ituses 33% less water than the average household uses to watertheir plants.
Studies found that of the automated watering systems, in groundsprinkler systems used 35% more and those with automatic timersuse 47% more water than places that did not use such automatedsystems. These timesaving devices aren't saving you money orwater.
Adding rain sensors, or better yet, soil sensors to yourautomated watering system saves water. You don't end up with thesprinkler system coming on in the middle of a rainstorm or rightafter one when the ground is already soaked.
Automated drip irrigation systems were found to be moreefficient in the study using only 16% more than used bynon-automated watering households. Add the above sensors and youwill have an even better system.
Perhaps the best tip is to not over water. This goes to morethan not watering after a rainstorm. It includes watering toyour landscaping plants' specific moisture requirements.Consider including less water intensive plantings in yourlandscaping. It means watering, as your soil requires. Adjustyour watering schedule from that needed in the high temperaturesof summer to the less watering needed in fall as temperatures godown.
Copyright 2005, Sandra Dinkins-Wilson
About the author:Want landscaping tips and information? Check out our Landscapingand Gardening info website athttp://www.landscaping-and-gardening.info. Get all the latestinformation in the world of landscaping.
