Monday Musings

Now that it is February, it is time to start thinking about our gardens.  I harp on gardens here a lot because that is the one place where the most water is used and it can be difficult to cut back on outside watering and expect things to live.  And yes we can plant natives, but what if you want to grow your own vegetables?

It is my goal to find a compromise between using excessive amounts of water outdoors and landscaping with gravel.  There has to be a happy medium I think.  Most of us move here because of the outstanding beauty of the forest only to find out we can't plant much in our gardens because we don't want to use water unnecessarily.

 So how do we combine water conservation and gardening?  Both are important.   Gardens add beauty and give us a place to relax.  They can provide food for us and nourish our souls as well.  They provide food and shelter for the local wildlife as well.   I do not know anyone who doesn't enjoy sitting out in the garden reading, snoozing or sipping iced tea.  I love to just sit outside and watching the comings and goings of the birds and the squirrels.  It is very relaxing and I think necessary to our mental health.

Last year I tried a product in my own garden called Dri Water.  I have varying results with it.  I used it according to their instructions.  Some plants did well with it and others did not.  So I am not sure I would invest in it.  It would probably be good for someone going on vacation, but to use it regularly, I am not sold.

So now I am on a quest to find another way to save water while still having a garden here in the mountains.  I am constantly adding compost to my garden so the soil will be able to absorb as much water as possible.  I am mulching to keep the moisture in the soil from evaporating out.  So what is the next step? 

I thought about installing a drip irrigation system, but frankly it is a lot of work and I have seen the damage the squirrels do to other peoples systems and I don't want to be out there repairing it all the time.  Add to the the cost and work of installing it and I don't think this is for me. 

Option two would be soaker hoses.  They can be put under the mulch and work pretty well.  But I have personally found that if you have a lot of plantings, it can be a challenge to get them around each plant that needs watered.   I end up running it longer to make sure that enough water is soaking in to the ground to reach the plants furthest from the hose.  So, I don't think this is the greatest option either.

Hand watering  can be effective, but it is very time consuming and hard to judge if you watering too much or not enough.  So what is the solution?  I will tell you in my next post.