Water-Efficient Gardening
With less rainfall and hotter weather
predicted in the coming decades, we need to go with the limited flow and create
a wonderful water-wise garden.
Clean water is essential to life on earth, yet it is a scarce resource. comprising only three percent of the world's water. Most fresh water is stored in ice caps, and below the surface of the earth. Despite the scarcity, global consumption of water has been increasing each decade. Australians use about 30 per cent of their household water consumption on their gardens.
We are in the grip of water shortages in much of the country and have to change our behaviour to reflect this reality.
By adopting water-efficient garden practices we can ensure that our gardens continue to thrive and continue to provide their many benefits - creating habitat for wild life, enhancing air quality and storing carbon, which helps to reverse the greenhouse effect.
Do it now!
Try the following actions to make your garden more water-efficient:
1. Add compost and manures to your soil - They provide food for plants, and enrich the water retention capacity of your soil. That means there's more water available in the soil for your plants. See our action Recycle Organic Waste for a full guide to composting and worm farming.
2. Ensure that your soil is always covered by mulch or plants - Bare exposed soil will dry out very quickly - and suck moisture from nearby plants. Mulching your soil will prevent it drying out, put nutrients into the soil and discourage weeds, which can beat your plants to vital water. See our action Mulch your Patch for a full guide to mulching.
3. Plant drought-tolerant or dry-land plants - There is a huge selection of differently coloured, formed and textured xeriscape plants (tough plants that don't require irrigation), so you can find one to fit any garden design. Take a look at some of the following gardening links for a list of drought-tolerant plants:
- Local indigenous plant nurseries - Native plants are adapted to an unirrigated existence in the local area; they also conserve local diversity and create habitats for wildlife. The Society for Growing Australian Plants has a list of indigenous nurseries from which to source local drought-tolerant plants.
4. Replace your lawn - Plant local indigenous grasses (eg weeping grass or wallaby grass) or some of the warm-season grasses like buffalo, couch or kikuyu, which can tolerate less water. These require approximately 30 per cent less water than cool-season grasses. But do check to see if these are a weed in your area.
Remember, you don't need to water your lawn at all: instead, enjoy the changing colour of the seasons, from the golden hues of summer to the velvety green of winter.
Alternatively, replace your lawn altogether with another permeable surface, such as gravel. Using concrete and paving stones will increase run-off and is best avoided.
5. Group plants according to their water needs - This will ensure that you're not unnecessarily watering some plants just because of their proximity to a heavy drinker. Not all plants need watering, and many only need a sprinkle now and then.
6. Get the right irrigation system - Forget wasteful sprinkler systems, which can lose up to 45 per cent of water to evaporation. Instead use water-efficient irrigation systems like leaky hoses and dripper systems. These provide water directly to the base of the plant, close to where it is taken up. They also provide smaller amounts of water, reducing the risk of run-off and water wastage.
Remember to adjust your automatic irrigation system seasonally, and install a rain sensor to avoid automatically watering in wet weather.
Try the Savewater site for tips on irrigation systems.
The Diggers Club Best Green Garden provides ideas and inspiration - they reduced their garden-water use by 50 per cent.
7. Water in the cool of the day - Watering either in the early morning or evening is best as it avoids water loss due to evaporation from the sun and transpiration by plants.
8. Longer deep soaks are better than frequent watering - Deep soaks encourage roots to move deeply into the soil. Of course, how long you need to soak depends on the quality of your soil, the presence of organic matter, evaporation rates, rainfall and the thirstiness of your plants.
9. Care for and know your garden - By checking for pests and diseases on a regular basis you get to know your garden better, understand the watering needs of your plants and can identify stressed plants before the situation is dire.
10. Capturing Rainfall - That's the brilliant thing about the water cycle: clean fresh water keeps falling from the sky. Unfortunately, it's occurring less frequently these days, and that's all the more reason to capture it. See our action Harvest & Use your Rainwater for a full guide to installing and collecting rainwater from your garden.
11. Use council and state government rebates on water saving gear - don't forget to take advantage of rebates offered by many of the state governments, who will provide money back on water-wise purchases including mulches, efficient irrigation and hoses.
- Smart Watermark - This site lists the State and/or Local government rebate programs available in your area for the installation of certain water-saving fixtures and water tanks.
Why this action
is
important
Fresh water is the life blood of nature. The subordination of water for human purposes comes at the expense of those natural systems that support humans in other ways (the ones that clean our air, moderate our environment and provide us with food). So we need to nourish, share and learn to value this life blood. The consequences of doing otherwise can be seen in the spreading deserts across the world and the drought and famine that can soon follow.