Conserving Water

Did you know that hand watering around the root systems of your plants is very efficient? When we decide to turn on the irrigation for 30 minutes and walk away, flooding around the plants and in the landscape bed occurs. The water sits for a while. Some of it gets absorbed and some of it evaporates. The irrigation watered the entire area of the bed while hand watering just watered the root systems. Water is wasted. Watering when the plants need it the most is also more efficient. They will use the water rather than watering three times a week and allowing the water to infiltrate past the roots because they do not need it. Watering deeply allows the water to keep the roots deeper into the soil and not needing constant watering because roots are reaching for the water at the surface of the soil.

Conserving water helps save the precipitation we do get. In a good year, our annual precipitation is about 17-19 inches and in a bad year, our annual precipitation is about 7-9 inches. The less lawn area we must water the more water we can conserve. One cubic foot of Kentucky Blue grass gets 20 gallons of water during one irrigation cycle of watering once in the week. If you had just 1,000 square feet of lawn that equals 20,000 gallons of water. Watering up to three times in a week over that 1000 square feet of lawn is the equivalent of 60,000 gallons of water per week. We are consuming more water than we get annually.

Did you know that if you turned on the hose and left the water running freely for a minute, how many gallons have gone to waste? There are seven gallons of water wasted. That could have watered a three-foot shrub for the week. It is best to plant similar plants with similar watering requirements together. That is part of water wise gardening.

Water wise gardening teaches several key techniques. It is good to have a plan before converting into a xeric garden. Understanding your soil is important before planting anything and knowing how to improve the soil is equally important. Understanding the plant’s requirements and making sure they are adapted to your climate are critical to the success of the landscape.

More now than ever, we need to reduce our lawn areas and cut back on watering. Water is part of all living things and without it we will perish. We need water for our children and grandchildren to continue moving forward.

Linda Langelo, CSU Horticulture Specialist

Februrary 16, 2023