Gardening
Pull Your Garden
Through the
Next Drought
Drought and water-use restrictions are still a
possibility in California. Here are six tips to pull
your garden through
1. If your garden is past its
establishment period and you
are only watering plants every
two to four weeks, you may have
already achieved the required
water savings.
2. Remember that your garden
can account for about half of
your household water use. If
restrictions call for a 5 percent
reduction in water use, you
can reduce watering times by
2.5 percent and find the other
2.5 percent indoors.
3. Continue irrigating deeply, but
increase the number of days
between watering.
4. While you wait for hot water for
your shower or to do the dishes,
collect the cold water in a bucket
and use it to water your garden.
5. If you didn't already do it, install
a graywater system and use the
water from your clothes washer,
showers and bathroom sinks to
water your garden.
6. If restrictions are so severe that
you cannot water your whole
garden, focus the watering large
shade trees and shrubs – your
garden's bones – which would
take years or decades
to replace.
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