Summertime Watering Tips for Your Landscaping
With the summertime heat, homeowners are concerned with keeping their lawn and garden looking green. Get watering tips for your landscaping in this video by House & Home:
The best time of day to water your garden is early in the morning. After watering, all of the moisture remaining on the foliage of the plants makes them susceptible to disease, so allowing the moisture to burn off in the sun during the morning and mid-day is beneficial. You should also water as close to the roots as possible. For lawns, you can water in the morning or the evening, but avoid mid-day as you’ll lose 30-40% of the water to evaporation.
The best type of sprinkler in terms of efficiency and gentleness is a heartbreaker sprinkler. Tt pulverizes water droplets into a mist, which makes it move through the soil 30-40% faster than fat water droplets, and it can be used for both lawns and gardens.
Soaker hoses bleed water and are the easiest and most affordable way to water your garden without installing an underground sprinkler system. Place them under about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of mulch or soil. They’re perfect for growing tomatoes, roses or any other palnts that need regular watering. Soaker hoses come either in recycled rubber or fabric. Fabric hoses are a better choice if you have high water pressure as they will last longer. If you’re worried about forgetting to turn the water off, installing a timer will help you save water and money. If you just have a small property, the old-fashioned watering can will work as well.
A rain barrel is a great way to save money and also sequester warm water that plants love. Rain water is charged with oxygen, and oxygen at the root zone of any plant is a good thing.
You can stop a hose from kinking by using a stainless steel graded hose saver.
Use a retractable downspout extension to stop a downspout from flooding the area around your house. The extension rolls up when there’s no rain; when it rains, it rolls out under the pressure of the rain traveling down the downspout, pushing the water about five feet away from the house.
Container plants have a tendency to dry out. One solution is to use water wicks which resemble tea bags and are made of all-natural ingredients. When in contact with water, they absorb 400 times their original weight. When you water the plant, the wicks will absorb the water and the plant will use up the moisture over time until you are able to water it. Every time you water the plant, you recharge the water wicks. At the end of the season, they will have broken down and become part of the soil.
