As the temperatures have warmed up, many home owners are concentrating on beautifying the outdoor areas including lawns, gardens, and flower beds. Landscaping is a great way to add curb appeal to your home and can serve as a great source of exercise and stress relief and can make a great hobby.
We all know there are two imperative things that plants need to thrive- water and a light source. When the environment is unable to supply enough water to keep your yard and flower beds many homeowners turn to sprinklers and water hoses.
This however can lead to some serious over watering issues. It is not uncommon in my market area of Knoxville, TN for the local water company to issue over watering notices that ask homeowners to limit watering to specific days and time to avoid potential water shortages.
Here is a break down of water uses for irrigation, lawn, and landscape use in the US (Source: The Environmental Protection Agency www.EPA.gov):
- In the Eastern US about 30% of the total water use are for irrigate lawns and plants.
- In the Western US about 60% of the total water use is used to irrigate lawns and plants.
Another way to avoid over watering issues is employ natural landscaping techniques (add link to previous blog)- when selecting your summer plants make sure you pay special attention to your plant selection as some species of non native plants may require lots more watering than your environment can produce.
If you must water your lawn and flowerbeds refer to these handy water saving tips to not only keep your water bills down, but also to help conserve water:
- Limit landscaping to native plants or plants that can grow naturally in the environment you live it
- Water in the morning to avoid rapid evaporation
- Use soaker sprays or drip irrigation rather than sprinklers
- Let lawn dry up before you rewater
- Use mulch (and or compost) to hold water in and prevent erosion
- Use rain barrels
- Direct gutters and/or downspouts to rain gardens or rain barrels
The USGS has a real time water watch website that lets you see if your area is in danger of a drought. Click here to view Drought Watch.
Please read our eco-minded blog posts for more information pertaining to "all things green":
Composting 101: What is Composting and Why Should Everyone Do it?
How to Exorcize the Vampire and Monsters in your Life- the "dangers" of phantom energy sources
Color me Green- The In's and Out's of Low VOCs Paints
I Am Proud to Say That Our Future Looks Greener, Thanks To Our Little Earth Stewards!
Go Green with Sustainable Landscaping Techniques
Get in My Belly- My Big Solar Belly, That is- Knoxville Goes Green with Solar Trash Compactors
Watch Out For Greenwashing when Purchasing Green Cleaning Products
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Christine and Jennifer, interesting information. I hadn't thought of the concept "overwatering".
I learned "Don't water often, water well".
Too many people just let the water run and don't give a second thought to the waste. This is a good reminder that we need to use sparingly.
thanks for sharing your over watering post. Too many forget they turned the sprinklers on and do over water...
Isn't that crazy 60% of our water.....used for landscaping. I bet in doubt stricken Southern California where I am from it is even higher! Shameful, we need more rock, sand, cactus front yards, I have seen some gorgeous ones!
It drives me crazy when I see people leave their sprinklers out running every single day- especially when in many cases they are watering their driveway or street in front of their house.