 great way to make sure you are the only one who eats the baby basil and mint.
Old water bottles save a lot of time when watering larger plants. Fill them with water and make a tiny hole near the top. Plunge the bottles in a large bucket to fill them up or use them to drain a fish pond. When inverted, the water drips slowly down into the soil and this prevents the run-off that is the curse of the watering can. More ingenious is to make a hole at the bottom of a large 20 litre water bottle or bucket. Insert a 3 way hose fitting into the hole and seal it with a glue gun. Attach two short hoses to it and you have a two-way grey water distributor. We load our bath water from upstairs into this device using a watering can. Apart from the fitness and muscle training we get it helps to keep the most arid areas of our little garden dripping wet.
Adapt your planting and watering habits
To keep a garden reasonably green during the hot summer months we need to become more water wise. A burnt up lawn and parched garden is the grim alternative. We have to use as little water as possible and make it go further than ever before. The best alternative to filling buckets and watering cans with potable (drinking) water is to redirect “grey” water from the bath, shower and washing machine. When you can’t sprinkle water everywhere the ground becomes very parched in neglected areas and healthy, once luscious plants begin to die in front of you. It is a sad situation and we need to facilitate the watering process by directing the water to the roots of the plants and preventing a run-off. Where we live, the roads and gutters alongside communal gardens and flower beds often receive more water than the plants do!
Where is the mulch, why does the water run into the road?Credit: Sue Visser
To my amusement I noticed the same to be true when buckets of water are now splashed at the plants that grow in their dome-shaped sandy flower beds. This is a very time-consuming and costly way to water the roads and the wind blows the sand all over the place. Our complaints and requests for mulch fall on deaf ears and no ground cover is planted to help knit the soil together. Mulch is anything that can cover up the soil to keep the ground cool and moist. Even gravel can be used as it helps the water to seep down into the soil. We need to plant small groups of new seedlings into what I call a “bakkie” or dish, dug into the soil with a raised edge around it like a dam wall. Fill it with compost and cover with mulch or gravel then all it needs is a good splash of water from a bucket once in a while.
Credit: Sue VisserWe are told to grow more succulents and drought resistant or what they call water wise plant species with good root systems that can store water. Having a smaller garden is also helpful. A big garden with a sprawling lawn is going to be a challenge if you don’t have a bore hole. Grey water (from showers, baths and laundry) will have to be distributed far and wide wherever possible. 50% of our personal water consumption is going down the drain, so rather use it to save your garden. Ask for an expert to help you set up a modified system of pipes and low pressure sprinklers to do the job. It is illegal to store grey water or allow it to lie around in puddles because it does contain bacteria. So use it with discretion.
Hose pipes versus watering cans
I did a study on comparative flow rates to find out how much water is used to fill a watering can or bucket versus hose time. The efficacy of the watering process was also taken into account. One watering can holding 12 litres takes ½ minute to fill with a tap fully open and 1 minute to fill if the tap is half open. In other words, 1 minute with the tap half open provides enough water for 2 watering cans (24 litres) or the same hose pipe time required to water a small courtyard garden.
With a watering can the same area needed 4 – 6 refills to do the job. More than double the water and it took me at least 8 times longer. A lot of water rolled off the dry soil and landed on the paving. In other words, with my ho