Watering Wisely

Watering Wisely

Well, you put in the perfect garden. Spent good money on seeds, nursery Photo Licensed from: ©iStockphoto.com/Karri Egger, Photographer stock, bedding plants, and everything was coasting along smoothly: Good soaking rains, sometimes too good. The lawn was growing so fast that for a while you considered renting some goats to keep the lawn cropped; you could barely keep up with the mowing. Now it's mid-July, and all of Ma Nature's free water supply has dried up. The plants are dusty and drooping. The lawn feels like a brillo pad on your bare feet, and it is getting brown like one, too. Wherever you walk on the lawn, footprints remain. Silently, sullenly, you break out the hoses and sprinklers. Now comes payback time: High water bills. If you have a well, you notice the electric bill is on the rise as the pump works overtime. Not exactly a rosy picture of gardening in high summer now, is it?

It is rather ironic that a region so blessed with abundant waterways and the greatest syetem of freshwater seas on the earth can go through rough dry spells, particularly in the summer. While the southern Great Lakes region does post adequate statistics on annual precipitation, it is often in overabundance in some seasons or months, and then can be terribly lacking during the midst of the warmest part of the year. What can we do to protect our horticultural investments and our pocketbooks at the same time?

We can continue to water, but it might mean changing the way we do things. There are wonderful gizmos, gadgets, and techniques that can help us maintain our landscapes during the dry periods. Let's explore some tips and wise watering methods that will help us over this hurdle.

One of the best ways to conserve water is with the addition of organic mulch over planting areas. Organic mulch is a form of insulation, is relatively inexpensive, and is a godsend to the gardener. For example, shredded bark applied directly to an area will help to cut maintenance chores and keep the cost of watering down. Mulch will protect the tender roots of plants from the hot sun, will keep the soil cooler, will help to prevent moisture loss from the soil and will protect the soil from compaction. Water that is applied properly to the mulched area will percolate through the mulch and into the soil below.

Keep amending your soil! Compost will loosen heavy clay, will bulk-up sandy soils, and will help the soil to retain moisture during dry spells.

Choose the proper plants for your soil and situation. If you have very dry shade with sandy soil, perhaps moisture-craving ferns, no matter how lovely, would be something that you might wish to forego. It would be better to plant something a bit more dry-shade tolerant, such as bergenia.

Consider when to water: Don't water during the hottest part of the day! Most of that water is going to be evaporated up into the atmosphere, and can cause problems with diseases and pests. Likewise, don't water late in the evening. I know that thunderstorms will occur during the night, it can't be avoided. But, if you can control when you water, and you can, don't choose a late evening watering for your plants, either. Many plant problems can be avoided with proper timing of watering. Water in the early morning before ten, and if you must, after four but before six or seven in the evening to let whatever might splash on the foliage dry before nightfall.

Invest in proper watering equipment. In my opinion, sprinklers are meant for small children to cool off in. Period. They don't do a very efficient job and they are very wasteful to use. The water gets sprayed through the air, partially evaporating before landing on the ground, and the amount of water delivered can be very inconsistent throughout the area where they are used. Invest in some good quality soaker hoses, and set them up throughout the garden on timers. If you have to be to work by seven and want to have the watering done by ten in the morning, timers can be used to regulate when the watering will be done. They can be buried under the soil or in the mulch by an inch or so, and are much better for getting the moisture down deep to the roots without spraying the foliage and with a minimum of water used. Water your lawn with soaker hoses on low pressure. I know it looks weird to see a soaker hose zigzagging through the lawn, but it really works to let the water seep into one area one day, then move the soaker hoses around to the next section for the next day. And that brings up another point as well: Lawns.

You can continue to have the greenest lawn on the block if you have the money to burn by watering it throughout the summer, but this is not the wisest thing to do. Certainly, we don't want the lawn to dry up and die, but we don't want to stress it even more by forcing it to grow when it is natural for grass to rest or slow in growth during the hottest part of the summer. Let it go semi-dormant. It won't be that deep shamrock green, but it won't go totally tan, either. Keep it a medium or khaki green, just moist enough that footprints don't remain when anyone walks on it. When the temperature begins to moderate, and the late summer and early fall rains return, the lawn will green back up. Set the lawn mower for a higher cut as well. This will help to keep the crowns of the grass protected from the hot sun and drying winds. Taller grass also holds moisture better than shortly mown grass, and can withstand the stresses of hot weather better.

Watering container plants is an exception to the when-to-water rule. Water early in the morning, and if needed, water in the evening, at least twice a day. On the hottest of days, an extra watering might have to be done in the afternoon. If you have containers, water at the base of the plants and on the soil or planting medium, not over the plants. Choose lighter colored pots that will reflect the light. Black or dark colored containers can literally cook plants, even if they are kept properly watered. The dark colors absorb heat, and since the roots are in a confined area, you can wind up with a lot of dead or dying plants. When planting containers or hanging baskets, add polymer water crystals according to the recommended rate for the size of container. They will absorb water to slowly release to the plant roots steadily, and are an indispensible gardening aid.

No, watering won't be totally eliminated in the summer garden during those dry spells. But, you can cut your costs and losses by being more innovative in your watering techniques. You invest good money on your yard and garden, invest a little more with the proper watering devices and garden wisely by mulching, amending, proper plant selection, and utilizing those gadgets that can help make the watering choores a little less tedious and perhaps more than a little less expensive in the long run.