Drought and Water Conservation
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Drought and Water Conservation
Living in Colorado and being a gardener has been rather stressful in
the past few years, as this state has been undergoing a rather severe
drought.The city is imposing watering restrictions which are not giving
enough water to lawns and plants.
I’ve had to renovate my garden to make it more water efficient. Now,
because of the techniques I’ve employed, I’m the only one in my
neighborhood with a garden that isn’t completely brown. So if you live
in an area that is going through a drought or if you just want to save
water, I suggest you use some of these techniques as well.
First, I took out all my plants. The soil I was using didn’t retain
water very well, so I had to water about twice as much as necessary in
order to get it to actually absorb into the roots. If you have this
same problem, you can fix it by loading the soil up with lots of
compost.
This not only prevents water from escaping, but encourages the plant’s
roots to be healthy and able to survive more.
Once I was done optimizing the soil for my new low water consumption
plan,I was ready to replace all my plants. I decided that the placement
of all my plants would reflect the amount of water necessary to keep
them alive.
All the plants that don’t require much water I placed in on one side of
my garden, and then just progressed in the amount of required water to
the other side of the garden. As a result of my new arrangement, I
don’t have to waste water on plants that don’t need it as much.
The installation of a drip irrigation system was another move on my
part that reduced the amount of water I needed to fully water my
garden. The great thing about these systems is that they constantly
drip into your plants, so that every single drop is absorbed. With
traditional watering systems, usually the roots get too overwhelmed
with the sheer amount of water in the soil.
Thus, lots just seeps right past. This is all taken care of with the
drip system.
If you still seem to need more water than you can supply to your
garden, you might consider which plants you could replace with less
water dependent plants. If you want a good shrub that doesn’t use up
more than its share of water, look for Heavenly Bamboo. It is not only
tolerant of droughts, but looks rather decorative in any garden. Herbs
such asrosemary are useful in preparing meals, and are rarely thirsty.
If you’re trying to find flowers that will still be lush and beautiful
despite the lower amounts of water, look for penstemon varieties like
Garnet, Apple Blossom, Moonbeam, and Midnight. You can attract
hummingbirds and butterflies with varieties like Cosmos and Yarrow. The
best part about all these plants is that they don’t look rugged and
withstanding, but they sure are. Your neighbors wont be saying “Look at
them, they downgraded their plants just to withstand the drought.
What chumps!” Instead they will be marveling over how you keep your
flowers so beautiful in the midst of the watering regulations.
One of my favorite drought resistant plants is the Lavender plant. I
could go on for pages about it. A large group of Lavender plants looks
unbelievably gorgeous in your garden, and hardly requires any water to
flourish. Pineapple sage is another personal favorite. It is a 2+ foot
shrub that smells strangely of pineapple. It’s another major attracter
of hummingbirds, and the leaves are also useful to add taste to drinks.
So if you are in the position I was, and you’re dealing with a drought
andperhaps watering regulations, I suggest you try some of the things
I’ve mentioned.
Even if you’re just trying to conserve water or be generally more
efficient with it, I think you’ll still be able to benefit.
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