April showers bring May flowers. They also bring valuable rainwater to harvest and temporarily store for later use in watering plants. Old fashioned rain harvesting methods, like rain barrels, have made a comeback for this purpose.
During the growing season, up to 30 percent of residential water use is for outdoor use. Of this, the majority often goes towards watering lawns and gardens. And so, using water conserving landscape design, soil health practices, wise plant selection, and efficient irrigation has high potential for conserving water.
A design principle to use is grouping plants based on their irrigation needs. When designing landscape beds and borders, separate them into zones such as no irrigation, once a month irrigation, twice a month, or weekly irrigation.
Rainwater harvesting treats rainwater as a resource to be collected rather than a waste product to be conveyed away as quickly as possible. Collected rainwater can be diverted to planted areas such as rain gardens for infiltration or temporarily held in a storage device like a rain barrel or cistern for future use.
As we begin a new year and will soon be thinking about lawns and landscapes, here is a reminder to focus on water. A limited resource we can’t live without. A New Year’s landscape resolution can be to conserve and protect water resources.
Now is a good time to analyze past growing seasons. When the weather was dry, were there plants that needed more frequent irrigation to prevent them from wilting? Could these be replaced with drought tolerant plants?
Storm drains in some towns have markers that read “No dumping. Drains to waterways”. These markers are part of the public education communities are doing to help protect surface water from urban run-off pollution.
Most residential areas are designed for rainwater to flow into the street and then into a storm drain. From there, it flows almost directly to a stream, river or lake, taking along what it picks up from surfaces it flows across.
Water conservation is important in home and business landscapes. While leaving automatic irrigation systems turned off, and only turning them on when plants need water, is a much needed practice change in many residential and business landscapes, selecting drought tolerant plants is also important.
This article focuses on drought tolerant shrubs for different functions. While listed as drought tolerant, keep in mind plants need established roots to develop tolerance to dry sites. It is often a deep or extensive root system that makes a plant drought tolerant.
Freezing temperatures are ending the growing season and its time to do yard and garden cleanup to help reduce overwintering diseases and insects; and to reduce the amount of plant debris washed into streams, lakes, and ponds where they contribute to water pollution.
As we move into winter, store lawn and garden pesticides correctly and securely. Read and follow the label for safety and to help prevent accidental poisoning or spills that could contaminate storage areas or water resources.
When it rains, do you know where rainwater from your property goes? Does it spread out and soak into the lawn or landscape beds to recharge soil moisture and benefit plants; or does it run off into the street and down a storm drain where it often transports pollutants to surface water?
During the lawn fertilization season, use responsible practices to help keep nutrients out of streams, rivers ponds, and lakes.
For those who live in town, it is important to know that most curbs and storm sewer systems drain directly into surface water. As rainwater flows over surfaces like pavement and bare soil, it collects materials such as soil, plant and animal waste and fertilizers, which contribute nutrients to surface waters.
