Well, it’s getting hot outside. Now is perfect timing for a lazy guide to summer watering. Who wouldn’t want an easier way to water than trying to drag the hose through the garden or carrying gallons of water? We will cover everything under the sun to make your life easier through the heat of summer. Some of these methods are great but can get pricey in the first season. Others you will find are a little more labor intensive at first, but are money savers in the end. So let’s explore these hacks.
Stationary Sprinklers
This is not the kind that is professionally installed and put on timers. This is simply your run-of-the-mill, buy-it-at-Lowe’s, kind of sprinkler. Start when your plants are small. Place a sprinkler at different intervals in your garden. Run a cheap water hose from the sprinkler to the outer edge of your garden. Be sure that the watering ranges of the sprinklers overlap slightly so there are no gaps in the watering. Now you’re ready to just bring your water hose to the edge of your garden and hook it into the sprinkler hoses. When one section is done, just move the main hose to the next sprinkler hose. Ta-Da! You haven’t murdered any of your plants, and you’re not traipsing through a muddy garden.
PVC Reservoir
This method is good if you are trying to water plants singularly. Simply cut a 4 ft section of 3″ PVC. Drill quarter-inch holes around one-half of the circumference of the PVC from one end up to about 12 inches from the bottom. Now drive your PVC into the soil very close to the plant, drive it down about a foot, and now you are ready to fill the reservoir with water. It will slowly soak into the ground and be delivered where it’s needed most, the root system. This method works great for small gardens or pots. But, if you have a very large garden, it may not be the best way.
Bottle-Feeding (and watering)
This is pretty much exactly as its name suggests, much like the same thing you do for potted plants with bulb waterers. Use empty 2-liter bottles with the bottoms cut out. Invert the top down, with no lid, and bury them about halfway down the height of the bottle. Fill with water and allow your plant to soak up what it needs. This method still requires a lot of manual labor, but it does prevent water wasted in run-off. You can pour pre-diluted water-soluble fertilizer in as well.
With an initial investment of some time and a little money, you can save yourself some time and hard work later on. So, if you choose to utilize any of these methods or if you have one of your own, drop us a line at: judy.mitchell@mitchellsnursery.com
Let us know your take on these. Or, if you have summer watering tips you would like to share, we would love to hear from you.
As always, HAPPY GARDENING!
