- A healthy lawn requires only about 2.5 cm (1 inch) of water per week,m including rainfall, to remain healthy. You can buy a soil moisture sensor to know the right time to water your garden or lawn.
- Rain barrels are a great outdoor water-saving device for collecting rainwater for you to use at a later time.
- Too much fertilizer can cause your lawn to grow too fast and require more water and maintenance. Use natural fertilizers that contain insoluble nitrogen, which is not affected by rainfall. These fertilizers are safer to use and not as likely to burn your lawn.
- Choose drought-resistant plants
- When cutting your lawn, ensure it is dry and leave it at least 6 cm (2 inches) long. The longer grass will protect the roots from the sun and will reduce moisture evaporation from the soil. Watering early in the morning (after any dew has dried) will help reduce losses due to evaporation. This can be arranged using timers. However, overwatering can still occur using timers, and therefore, linking watering to soil moisture levels will be more effective at reducing water use for landscape irrigation than using timers.
- Leave grass clippings on the lawn. Clippings provide valuable nutrients to the lawn and aid in moisture retention, thus reducing the need for watering.
- Aerating cuts small holes in the ground to allow air, water, and fertilizer to reach the roots. The small cores that are left over after aerating should be left on the lawn. The micro-organisms in the cores help decay dead grass and allow your lawn to absorb more moisture.
Sprinklers that lay water down in a flat pattern are better than oscillating sprinklers which lose as much as 50 percent of what they disperse through evaporation.
If using an automatic irrigation system, install a rain sensor to avoid watering your lawn in the rain.
Did you know?
Xeriscaping is a form of landscaping that uses little water. It uses native plants or plants well-adapted to the area; improves the soil and uses mulches to conserve water and control soil temperature. Contact local garden centers for advice on suitable native places and landscaping techniques that will save you water and money.
