Tap into perks of watering
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FTER several wet winters and rainy summers you probably feel there’s no need to be careful with water. It’s true you don’t need the hose as often in a poor summer since the weather does the watering for you. But there are always those few things that need a helping hand.
You can’t leave tubs and hanging baskets even if there are summer showers since they’re often in the “rain shadow” of the house and by the time container plants have grown enough they act as their own umbrella, shrugging off any rain that reaches them. Intensively planted veg and salad beds need checking regularly; if they dry out badly crops suffer.
Closely spaced crops may need watering every day, even if summer isn’t a scorcher. The same is true of plants growing in the greenhouse, particularly those in pots.
Any newly planted flowers, roses and shrubs in the garden will also benefit from regular watering to help get established in their first few months. What works best is a thorough soak once a week when the soil around them gets dry.
In a long, dry spell it’s advisable to water any fruit trees and bushes carrying crops, since unripe fruit is often shed prematurely if plants are stressed due to water shortage.
There are lots of places you don’t need to bother watering, even if rainfall is lacking. Established trees, shrubs and climbers can be left to look after themselves and the lawn will be fine even if it turns a bit brown. If you don’t cut it too closely it will stay greener longer.
Allotment crops often fare surprisingly well even when there’s no water supply on site, as long as you incorporate plenty of organic matter during the winter digging and space everything out well at planting time so roots have access to a large “catchment area”.
But as summer marches on it’s vital to keep weeds hoed off, or they’ll compete with crops for any available moisture, and they’ll win.
It’s worth saving water off any handy roof. You can collect enough from the greenhouse, conservatory and shed to keep all the must-have parts of the garden growing and rainwater is so much better for them than tap water.
What’s more, when you have a meter you can make worthwhile savings on your bill and since water metered households are on the rise, you might as well get set up now.
There are many water diverting devices that send bath water or rainfall from roofs into storage tanks and you don’t have to spend a fortune if you shop around.
So do your bit to keep gardening in the face of uncertain future water supplies and get plumbing for the summer now.