Saving water in the garden

By following a few simple tips and using alternative water sources, you can still maintain your garden during the drought.

Planting
When planting, dig plants into the ground leaving a trench of about 50mm around the base of the plant to make sure water funnels down to the roots. You should also consider:

• Buying plants that are drought tolerant and suited to our local climate so your garden will require less watering. Look out for plants at your local nursery that carry labels such as Water MiserTM.
      
• Conditioning your soil by adding a soil wetting agent or water saving crystals. You could also add compost to the top 10–15cm of soil to help improve water penetration.
  Grouping plants with similar watering needs to ensure drought tolerant plants are not over-watered.

Keeping your lawn alive
See how to help your lawn during water restrictions

Mulching
Mulching can prevent up to 70% of water loss by evaporation on hot days.

It also prevents excessive runoff, restricts weeds that will compete with your plants forwater and keeps the soil from becoming too hot. When mulching you should also consider:

• Using an organic mulch (eg woodchips, chipped tree waste and sugar cane mulch) as this will add valuable nutrients to the soil as it rots down.
      
• Spreading mulch over the entire planted area, approximately 50mm – 100 mm deep, leaving the planting trench free to avoid collar rot.
      
• Topping up mulch twice a year in Autumn and Spring.
      
• Never raking up or turning mulch over, as this will damage the fine feeder roots that develop between the mulch and the soil. Mulch isn’t just for garden beds, it can also be used in pot plants, on veggie patches and around the base of trees. Although you should be careful when mulching around native plants, as some species will not tolerate certain types of mulch.

Watering
Water restrictions ban outdoor watering with the town water supply, so you should look into alternative water supplies such as rainwater tanks, borewater, recycled water and grey water re-use systems. When watering you should consider:

• Most plants don’t need watering every day, once a week will usually do. Deeper, less frequent watering will encourage deeper root growth and greater tolerance to dry spells.
     
• Always check your soil first to see if it is dry and only water when your garden needs it. You can do this by digging down a couple of centimetres in the soil. You
  should also water the base of plants only, not the leaves or flowers. You can also use watering spikes to get water down to the roots.
      
• When establishing new plants, they may need more regular watering for up to six weeks, so ask for advice when purchasing.
      
• When watering with grey water use a watering can to encourage even distribution and avoid surface pooling.

Recycling
Many everyday items around your home can be recycled for use in your garden.

Newspapers,cardboard or old paper can be soaked with water and used as mulch, or you could try using cold ash from your fireplace. You can also use empty plastic bottles for watering your plants, just remove the lid, rinse out then cut off the base. Place upside down in your soil and fill with water. Another effective way to get water to your root zone is to use a short piece of hose inserted into the soil, with an old funnel in the top.

Gardening with Children
Most kids love playing with water, but we don’t want them wasting it!

Why not teach them how to water a plant properly and let them water with you. There are also many quick growing, easy to maintain plants that are great for child friendly garden beds, ask your local nursery for advice. Teaching children water efficient practices around the home helps them to value our water supply and will help to ensure a clean and healthy water supply for future generations.

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Page last updated: 16/10/2006