Ideas for collecting rainwater in your garden
August is a hot, dry month for people and plants alike. I find that this is a time that overwhelms many gardeners — with our prized plants thirsty and unruly weeds taking over the garden. Although our plants need water, the risk of wells going dry means we often cannot afford to water, even if we have the time. It can be enough to make one throw one’s arms up in defeat.
Moreover, reducing the ecological impact of our gardens definitely requires watering as little as possible. Regularly irrigating our gardens is just not sustainable. Picking drought-tolerant and native plants can help reduce watering needs, but event drought-tolerant plants have their limit.
Luckily, there are lots of creative, affordable ways to collect and store rainwater in your garden that will allow your plants to survive and thrive even in the dog days of summer. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
1. Plant a rain garden. Designing a rain garden begins with noticing where water flows and settles. You want to locate your garden in a wet, low-lying spot. Create a creek and puddle pattern in the garden by digging out swales to a depth of one to two feet. Pile the soil along the lowland side of the swale, creating a ridge or berm. Fill the swales with river rock and plant the berms with water-loving plants. When it rains, this garden will collect water, allowing it to infiltrate into the soil through the swale and plant roots. Critters will be attracted to your rain garden as well, adding to its biodiversity.
2. Install a rain barrel. This one’s pretty simple and accessible. You can purchase a rain barrell for about $80 or make one out of any old, clean barrel. Position it under an eavestrough to collect rain. Make sure you raise your barrell up a few feet so that water will flow out of the spigot using gravity. It’s also a good idea to cover the top with mesh to prevent mosquito larvae.
3. Create a rain chain. This is a simple and beautiful alternative to a rain barrell that collects rainwater directly in your garden. All you need is a long chain or chain-like object to attach to your eavestrough. I have seen people use shells, spoons, coins, stones and pine cones as chain alternatives. The chain hangs down from the eavestrough to the ground. When it rains, water runs down it into the soil. Dig a small puddle and fill it with river rock at the bottom of the rain chain to increase the infiltration effect.
Fresh water is a blessing and one of the most valuable renewable resources on our planet. Nothing on terrestrial Earth would be alive without it. Clean water is a gift we can give our grandchildren if we care for it. So let it rain, Mother Nature, we’ll be ready.
Caitlin Doucette is a lifelong gardener, landscape designer and owner of Earthshine Gardens, a holistic ecological land care company serving Nova Scotia’s South Shore. You can contact her by email, at 902-298-1205 or online at www.earthshinegardens.com.