Watering Your Garden the Correct Way

When gardening, water is one of the most important components. But, as we all well know, water is becoming an very important element that needs to be conserved. How can we do both? Simple, by becoming aware of common water-wasting mistakes in the garden.

The first culprit to look at is the water hose that you are using. Lots of water gets wasted when gardeners either forget to turn their water faucet, that feeds the water hose going to the garden, off. Garden hoses can also waste water if they, or their coupler or even the water faucet, are leaking while you are watering your garden, or in the case of the faucet, even when the water is turned off. These hose related common water-wasting mistakes can be easily be fixed. An automatic timer can be put on the faucet that will automatically turn off at a certain time, so if the gardener forgets to turn it off, it will turn off on its own. Leaks usually happen when the rubber washers found inside hoses and faucets deteriorate. Fixing this is as easy as replacing the rubber washers with new rubber washers. It is also a good idea to keep replacement rubber washers on hand because sooner or later they will be needed.

Sprinklers are the next culprit to look at when looking at common water-wasting mistakes. Sprinkler lines or risers that are broken can leak water and if these sprinklers are not adjusted right they can simply waste the water by not sending it where it is needed. To fix these problems, find the water leak and repair it or watch where the sprinkler head is sending the water and make sure it is going where it is needed. If it does not go where it is needed, adjust it.

The last culprit to look at when trying to solve the common water-wasting mistakes in the garden is when to water and when not to. Some people are so set on a schedule that they will water the garden even when the soil is still moist or if it is raining. There is no need to over water the garden just because the garden is on a schedule. Also, gardeners do not always adjust their watering schedule according to the changing seasons and this can also result in using too much water. One last tip is to watch the weather and do not water in the heat of the day or if it is real windy as both heat and wind will accelerate the evaporation rate and therefore the water will not be used by the garden as it could have been had the gardener waited.