When we garden, we also water. There’s no real way to grow plants without water — even the most drought-tolerant plants like agaves and cacti need water sometimes. And with many parts of the world experiencing regular drought conditions, it’s vitally important that we plan how to water our gardens while protecting this invaluable resource. Much of that depends upon the type of watering system you choose — choose poorly, and water will be wasted.
Understanding Your Plants Hydration Needs
When a plant’s roots get dry they stop growing and go into stress mode
- You can see stress modes existing when the plant leaves look slightly wilted or the color of the leaf changes to a darker color.
- When a plant is in stress mode it sacrifices blooms and new foliage to preserve the existing plant
Plants water demand increases when:
- The temperature increases more than 10 degrees over the previous day.
- It’s windy or breezy and no rain.
- When they are planted next to a wall that reflects sunlight and heat.
- If they are planted in a pot and exposed to the elements of heat and wind.
- They are planted in an exposed windy area, such as on top of a hill or corner.
- Plants in pots need more frequent water than plants in-ground.
If any of these conditions are true for your garden, then you need to give a quick check to how the plants are doing and get them a drink of water. If they are wilting in the middle of the day, waiting until the end of the day to water is too late. When they are wilting, the roots are already dry. Get water to the plants immediately; otherwise, you could be looking at some stressed yellow plants later. So let’s go over the different types of watering systems out there — which one is right for your garden?
Waterwise Gardening – Adding Watering Systems
- Soaker hoses: Soaker hoses look like thick black garden hoses with a porous outer membrane through which water oozes. While this type of watering system avoids evaporation, it can be a bit difficult to get the thicker hose to stay flat against the ground. Plan to pin it down into place using “U” shaped garden pins and a heavy layer of mulch.
- Drip irrigation: Arguably the most water-efficient system out there, drip irrigation has a slim tube with emitters attached every so often. The tube is arranged through the garden with emitters located close to the plants. This is the type of system you often see at garden centers because the water gets where it needs to go without a lot of evaporation. This system is best for garden beds and container gardens but is not recommended for turf areas.
- Hand-watering: Now we’re going old school here, talking about the good old-fashioned hose at the end of your arm. This is a perfectly valid way to water your garden (hello, our forebearers did it all the time) provided you do it correctly. Water the base of the plant at soil level rather than just spraying the leaves, and aim for a thorough soaking rather than a light sprinkling. I sometimes leave the hose on a slow drip and set it at the base of a plant for about 10-15 minutes while I prune the salvias, then I go back and move the hose to another plant.