Water our Most Precious Resource
One of the things that we need to be aware of is our need to conserve water. Our water supply should not be taken for granted because, without water, life would not be as we know it.
Without water, there would be no life. Every living thing depends on water from the tallest trees or the biggest animals to the smallest micro-organisms.
Every living thing depends on water. I would often say that where there is water there is life.
I heard someone say many years ago in a movie that I was watching in reference to water one of the actors said that” water is the liquid of life.”
That saying stuck with me all these years because he was right. Water is the liquid of life, therefore, we cannot separate it from life. All living things need water in order to live.
Water is so important to our survival. it is said that the body can survive for a few weeks without food, but can only survive for a week without water.
So when we talk about water management within the landscape and gardens, we are talking about looking at ways to save water. I have been an eye-witness over the years and have seen how water has been wasted in the landscape because of bad water management. So we will be looking at ways in which we can implement good water management.
Water management within the landscape and garden
1. Make sure that your water faucet is in good repair and not dripping water after you have turned the tap off.
2. Repair or replace any damaged hose that leaks.
3. Don’t leave the water hose running when stepping away to answer the phone or to take care of something else. Sometimes we get caught up and forget that the water is still running.
4. Choose plants if possible for your garden area that doesn’t require much water. Click on this link xeriscape to find out more about a low maintenance garden.
5. If you have an irrigation system make sure that it is in good repair and working properly.
6. Consider using drip irrigation in your plant beds.
7. Consider putting your irrigation on a timer.
8. I know that it may be fun for children but don’t send them to water plant beds without adult supervision because children don’t understand how to manage water and they could get distracted or wastewater making a game out of it.
9. Grass can also consume a lot of water. Why not limit the amount of grass you use or water your lawn only when it shows signs of needing a drink. All it takes is knowing your grass type this will help greatly when it’s time to water your grass again.
10. When the rainy season approaches, reset the timer on your sprinkler system or turn it off so that it will not come on even after the rain or worse yet while it is raining.
11. Knowing your plant water requirements can help you to save water not to mention helping you to keep the cost of your water bill down.
12. If you use an electric pump and you have any water leaks this can contribute to and increase the electric bill
13. Add mulch to your plant bed. Mulch will not only retain water for your plants which means you would not have to water as much but mulches also keep soil temperature cool, keeps the weeds down, helps with soil ph and also as the mulch breaks down it adds nutrients to the soil which the plants takes up by its roots.
14. Do not water when it is windy because high winds will cause water evaporation.
15. Repair pipes that are leaking, no matter how small.
The final word
These are a few water management practices that can be put in place to help save our most precious resource. I am sure there are more ways of saving water but let’s start with these.
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About the author
Norman loves being in the garden, both at home and for his job....
he is 'Natures Little helper' being outdoors, growing his vegetables and flowers from an early age.
Now having spent over 22 years in the profession he want to give some of his knowledge to others...
his vast array of hints and tips you will find scattered over this site will help you no end growing plants in your garden.
Norman – a good website. Looks like your heart and soul is pouring out on this website. I will learn a lot from your experience. What to do with slugs? I planted herbs in a small area in my back yard but slugs kill them. I have been told by a gardner once to not use slug killers as it will kill them and is a source of food so more will come. Just one thing about your site name – words are broken down and appearing in different lines.
Thanks for those kind words, One trick that I have learn a long time ago is that you can use eggs shells to keep them away. after you finish using those eggs save all of the shell let them dry out, when you have save enough egg shell base on your garden size put them in a plastic bag and gently crash them, Them sprinkle them through out your herb garden. The sharp edge from the egg shell will cut in their bodies this will cause them to stay out off your herb garden and as the egg shells begins to break down it will add calcium to you soil. So you get the best of both worlds. Ands as for my website name I am working on fixing that. Thanks again for the follow and have a nice day.
Your wealth of knowledge in the gardening and landscaping industry is certainly apparent in your website. I appreciated the name of your website and I know that my wife will make good use of all the links that are available as she is an avid gardener as well.
Thanks very much!
Good evening Shawn thanks for the follow and for those very words, glad that I can help and I hope that your wife will be please with my website. thanks again and have a good evening.
Great article! You are so right about people wasting water. I have seen sprinklers on during the rain. Now a days people look bad upon others who waste water like that. In California there is a town without water because of drought and waste. Also, watering in the heat is so bad for the plants and evaporation. Using mulch is great advice. What kind of mulch is best?
Hello Tammy hope all is well and thanks for the follow, in my opinion you can use just about any kind of mulch. All mulches has the ability to retain water other than the other benefits that they can be use for in the landscape. But my favorite is red mulch because of the beautiful color that it brings to the landscape. Hope this helps, again thanks for the follow and have a good day.
You give an interesting point about water being the liquid of life. That does play so true as you don’t find much life where there isn’t much water. Water is vital for a healthy garden and I know we do as much as we can to preserve water in our gardens by keeping the soil covered with some kind of mulch. We also use a rain barrel that collects water from the roof and that helps us a lot in the dry seasons. You have a great topic of discussion here Norman and I thank you for the info!
Good evening Jason thanks for the follow and for those very kind words, glad that i could help have a good day and please do share this site with those you know thanks again.