Summer is just around the corner.
For some of us that means some “Dog Days” ahead. For others, maybe not so bad. But one thing that is certain is that most of our country has been faced with drought issues for a few years now. From the Southwest to the Southeast, the presence of rain has been scarce.
In the U.S., 7.8 billion gallons of water are used daily for outdoor use, primarily for gardening and landscaping. These are staggering numbers.
For those of us who like to maintain our lawns and gardens, there are a few things we can do to keep our yards looking great and, more importantly, conserve water.
Planting Tips
- Use native plants to your area.
- Choose low-water grass types.
- Plant trees and shrubs to slow erosion and cool down the area.
Irrigation Tips
- Hand watering is not very efficient.
- Drip & Micro Spray Irrigation is best for all plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees.
- Watering early in the morning is best.
- Water the lawn, not the pavement, by adjusting the sprinklers.
- Chemical fertilizers speed up the growth of lawns, not using them means less to water.
- Raise the cut length of your mower. Taller grass shades the roots and promotes healthier turf & requires less watering.
- Do not puddle the water by over-watering. Water less time and more often to give it time to soak in if you have harder soil types.
Use these great tips this summer and watch your lawn and garden flourish.
Remember, Mister Landscaper believes in conserving our most precious natural resource. It shows in every product we sell.
Join the discussion... Have you used these tips? Do you have any tips of your own?
Reminder... April is our Blog Comment Contest. The winner of our contest will receive a fabulous Canon digital camera and a Mister Landscaper kit. All you have to do is leave a comment on any April blog post. The winner will be determined by the number of comments each contestant leaves. Each comment will represent one entry for our random drawing. Here is more information and a picture of the prizes.
Good luck to all!
The hot, dry summers we have here in NC would leave my tomato plants wilted by the end of the day, forcing me to water them in the evening, which can lead to disease problems. When the heat arrives, I can set the timer to water every 12 hours (6am & 6pm) to keep the soil from drying out during the day without having to worry about wet leaves overnight.
@ bellam; http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/
@bellam, check with your county cooperative extension agents. They should be able to help you identify some good candidates for native privacy buffers. I live in NC and had never taken the opportunity to utilize the cooperative extension office locally until I decided to step into their building earlier this year, and they had pamphlets and brochures on almost anything you could ever imagine related to gardening.
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/extension/publicat/wqwm/ag508_3/
On the site, you can pick what size shrubs you are wanting to plant based on how tall you want your privacy buffer.
Here is a very useful website: http://www.enature.com/native_invasive/
You can put in your state and they'll tell you not only the native plants but also the invasive ones.
Good luck!
Daphne
MrL Blog Manager
Looking forward to hearing how your tomatoes do! Sounds like you have a pretty good system going on.
Daphne
MrL Blog Manager
Yep, mulch helps a lot! Thanks for the reminder--and the link.
Daphne
MrL Blog Manager
Great advice on the mulcher attachment! We have lots of trees on our property, which means lots of leaves. We may just use this idea.
Thanks!
Daphne
MrL Blog Manager
Daphne
MrL Blog Manager
Great to hear! Keep us posted on your progress.
Daphne
MrL Blog Manager
That's interesting! I had never heard anybody encouraging watering in the middle of the afternoon before. The reasons I've always heard to avoid it is that more of the water is prone to evaporate in the afternoon in the hot sun, and that it therefore wastes more water since much of it evaporates before reaching the roots. Also, I've heard some people say water droplets on plant leaves in the middle of the day can promote leaf burn since the bright sun can be magnified by the water droplets.
Because of the need to conserve water, I heard people say water in the morning or later in the evening. But in the late evening if you wet the leaves of plants, the plants are more prone to develop diseases and mildews as the water/humidity stays on the leaves overnight since the sun isn't out to evaporate the water on the leaves.
So then, many people seem to say water in the mornings to conserve water, limit the chance of disease, and limit the chance of burning the plans.
I think it also depends on your location and the other features of your yard. For example, plants near trees will need more water because the tree roots will consume most of the water. If your yard is mostly shaded, I would imagine watering in the middle of the afternoon may not be that big of an issue. There could also be other reasons your parent's yard greened-up faster: a better pH level in their soil, or maybe the neighbors just didn't fertilize.
It's an interesting thought, though! I may divide the yard or a plant bed this summer and try watering half in the afternoon, and the other half in the mornings and see if there's much difference.