How To Water Plants During A Drought; Water Your Garden.

Our garden is a huge deal for us. It is so important for us to have a garden that produces organic veggies and fruit and it is such an important lesson for our children to see the garden grow. Recently, when California announced that we are experiencing a drought–we didn’t know what that would mean for our gardening efforts! However, I’m proud to say that we’ve overcome this and continue to still have a beautiful garden that is producing plenty of veggies.

Here are some great tips for how to water your garden during a drought.  The cost of water and irrigation systems can be tough on any budget during a drought. To avoid negating the financial benefits of having a garden, you want to make sure your irrigation system isn’t costing you more money than you are saving by having a garden in the first place.  These handy tips will keep your water bill low, and your garden thriving:

How to water your garden during a drought

Collect rainwater. One of the cheapest and easiest ways to water your garden for cheap is to catch rainwater.  For some climates, this a great method since there is more frequent rain. For dry climates, this method may provide only very limited amounts of rainwater to water your garden with. Even though we’ve had very little rain–I took full advantage of the rain we had in the past couple of weeks. Put out barrels and move your barrels inside your garage and use it as needed.

Use kiddie pool water. We all enjoy some time in the kid’s pool to cool off during the summer months.  Instead of dumping the water out on the lawn, use it to water your garden. You can use watering cans to tote back and forth to your smaller garden, or a pump system to irrigate a larger garden area.  Your kids will get to enjoy fresh cool water to swim and relax in, and you’ll have a great method of watering your garden with ease.

Use dirty dishwater. Some people don’t like this method, but it can be great if you use the rinse water that isn’t so full of food bits and soap.  Instead of filling your sink up with water to rinse dishes, add a small tub to your sink and use it. When you are done rinsing your dishes, you can easily carry it out to your garden to water your vegetables or flowers.

Use bath or shower water. This one takes a bit more work, but it can prove useful to use the water from your bath or shower to help water your gardens this summer for less money.  Use a bucket to collect the water from the shower to then carry out to your garden to water it with. I don’t know about your family–but we only have two instances when we turn the shower water on. Once when we use the shower to get water on our body and another when we rinse (we turn the water off while lathering) We use the initial water to catch in a bucket then reuse it in the garden.

Water early morning or evening hours only. The watering midday can be somewhat wasteful since the heat of the sun will evaporate more water than the plants will receive.  Watering when the sun isn’t out so brightly will help the plants to absorb the moisture they need without wasting your water in the process.

These ways to water your garden for cheap are going to save you money on your water utility bill, all while keeping your garden growing and healthy throughout the heat of the summer.  Remember to plant your garden where there will not only be bright sunlight, but some shade at times to help the plants from getting too dry during the day. Being able to not only grow a garden to reduce your grocery budget costs but to maintain that garden for a lower expense is a great way to help your family budget.

Do you have any other tips I don’t have listed here?

Other Posts You Might Like