Do you think garden is a great place to start looking at ways to save water and redu

**simmonssandra** · 06-26-2009, 07:00 AM

Do you think garden is a great place to start looking at ways to save water and reduce our water bills?

**vickilynn** · 06-26-2009, 08:33 AM

Hum, we don't have a garden....just one tomato and a cucumber, but my husband's hobby is having a nice lawn. He waters when it's hot and doesn't rain. I wish we could do some rain catching for water plants, but that's not possible this year.

Maybe someone will have info about this. But does the cost of water negate the cost of those fresh vegetables?

**lotsadebt** · 06-26-2009, 08:36 AM

There are supposed to be rain barrels out there that attach to the downspouts and catch the runoff. I have seen pictures of them, they have a hose attachment at the bottom. My neighbor is a gardening buff and she was telling me about them. Seems that is someone is handy they can make one too.

**Momto2Boyz** · 06-26-2009, 08:38 AM

Rain barrels are a great way to use free water. And you don't have to get the fancy ones either. You can simply put a bucket under the downspout to catch water, to water your plants (just don't let the water sit, or you'll get mosquitos).

We have had rain barrells for a few years now, and we are able to water our lawn and garden all summer long (even last summer when it was dry) without actually turning on the faucet. So for us, it is defenitaly a way to use a "free resource".

**geckoace** · 06-26-2009, 08:54 AM

I just came across this http://www.earthsolutions.com/Farm-i...yo_p_602.html#
last night and this thread made me think of it, seems pretty nifty.

there are lots of rain barrel instructions on the web that help you use a trash can or one of those blue barrels. and add a spout to it so you can attach a regular or soaker hose. i googled it quickly and came up with a lot.

i think soaker hoses are great you bury them very shallow in your garden and water trickles out, no reason you couldnt use a hose you have and poke some holes in it (as far as i know)

**Grainlady** · 06-26-2009, 11:22 AM

We have a series of containers (aka rain barrels) - 50-gallon, 165-gallon and 210-gallon containers for approx. 1000 gallons of water. We use it for our small vegetable/herb garden and all our landscaping plants. Occasionally we will use it for a 10-foot strip of grass in our back yard, using a soaker hose, but not on a regular basis. A thousand gallons of water isn't all that much....

We use a drip irrigation system in the garden. It is fed water from the rain barrels that are located next to the garden with a solar pump. Drip irrigation gets the most water directly where it needs to be, not broad sprectum watering. You'll use a lot less water if you use a drip system.

We also do a lot of hand-watering using sprinkling cans (my daily weight-lifting program - LOL).

A soaker hose can also be used with our rain barrels. When you install the containers, you need to know the higher off the ground the containers are, the more water force you will have from the gravity-fed water. All of our containers are at least one coarse of concrete blocks off the ground. Place them higher if you need the water to be fed through a hose any distance. You also have to have them far enough off the ground to get watering cans/buckets under the spigot.

**Persimmon Lace** · 06-26-2009, 03:05 PM

If I am running water to get to the hot, I fill up a container with that water and it goes into a 5 gallon bucket outside the backdoor. Same with pasta water, boiled egg water and so on. That is the water I use for the gardens.

You would be surprised at how much water you waste in the house as compared to watering your garden especially if you use a system of buckets like that. I carry the buckets to the garden and then use a cup to water the plants or if its something like a square of lettuce I will tip the water over and flood it.

**Shelli_wnj** · 06-26-2009, 03:22 PM

For my "garden" which is actually a bunch of containers on the porch - so far we haven't had to water them because of the insane amount of rain we have been getting. I like the idea of catching the water waiting for the hot - I will have to try that as the weather gets dryer!

**Cedar** · 07-01-2009, 08:55 AM

Oh definitely so. I just have a few plants on my condo patio, but I'm trying to use rain water to water them this summer. The rainy season just started, so hopefully I can keep the plants watered all summer long without resorting to the hose outside or my kitchen water.

I'm also researching plants native to my area. These should hopefully be well adapted to the drier winters we have, and won't need to be watered as much as the flowers I bought just because they were pretty. (They died, of course. Delicate things...)

**Siebrie** · 07-02-2009, 04:33 AM

And the added benefit of a garden: a nice tree will give cool shade to sit in when it's really hot, so you do not need to run the airco as much.

**craftypam** · 07-02-2009, 06:38 AM

My dh got rain barrels for free. He added faucets on the bottom and I fill up watering cans to water my flowers. Thanks for suggestions grain lady I'm going to try adding soaker hose to the rain barrel

**Thrifty Mom** · 07-03-2009, 10:20 AM

I always have a dish pan in my sink to catch the water that would be wasted on those quick rinses & waiting for hot. That waters all my container plants. Also, we use a dehumidifier in our basement & all that water gets used on plants as well. No rain barrels yet, they are on the list...

**Judi Dial** · 07-06-2009, 07:44 AM

I think your garden is a GREAT place to start saving water. See if your local library has or can get you something about xeriscaping.

Here's a link to an introduction to xeriscaping. We learned about this when we lived in Florida.

http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_xeriscape.htm

Judi

**MomToTwoBoys** · 07-08-2009, 02:20 PM

Gardening is a huge way to help not only reduce our dependence upon water from other sources, but it helps keep the storm water sewers and rivers free from all of the contaminants that come with runoff storm water.

Did you know that everything from your roof, the drains, etc goes right into the lakes and rivers? That includes tar, oil, dirt, shingle parts, etc.

This is why I'm a huge advocate of having a rain barrel. We have two and may be looking to get more. We plan to daisy chain at least two more in the backyard and use those to water our grass once a week. Not only will you save money by not using the hose to water your grass, but depending on the type of water that your area has, it might do good to keep all of the gross contaminants that are in your water out of your grass. The rain water is also healthier for your garden as well.