Watering Your Landscape

During these hot summer months, the duty of watering your lawn, flowers, or garden becomes more vital, to ensure your plants remain properly hydrated and healthy. Well-watered gardens often yield the strongest, most viable plants, and proper watering is necessary for a lush, picturesque lawn. The correct tools for performing each of these tasks will not only make it simpler, they can also help save time, diminish community water use, and lower your water bill.

To keep your yard or other large, grassy area watered, a sprinkler is often the best tool. These units cover a wide area, and the type of sprinkler will help determine how the water falls. Oscillating sprinklers usually have a bar of nozzles along a center tube, and can arc back and forth to water a wide rectangle of space, perfect for lawns. For circular grassy spots, a turret or impulse sprinkler will diffuse water in a direct stream or gentle spray throughout the circle. Most sprinklers can be adjusted to fit your space and shape of the area, for even distribution and making the most of your water.

For watering small sections of landscaping, spot sprinklers or watering globes are an effective choice. Watering globes have a reservoir at the top and a neck which inserts into the soil around the plant roots. When dry, capillary action from the roots pulls water from the reservoir to the plant, keeping it perfectly hydrated. These are also ideal for container gardening and houseplants. This type of automatic system eradicates the need for using unnecessary water on potted plants, and the reservoirs may also be filled with harvested water for added conservation. Spot sprinklers are designed to water small areas in a certain shape, and tend to spray much less than impulse or oscillating versions. Another option for small areas or containers is to hand water the plants. A specialty nozzle can direct the water flow or create a gentle rainfall effect, while a watering wand will help extend the reach of your hand.

To keep your large planter beds or garden area healthy, soaker hoses or slow release watering products are often the most effective tools. On these types of areas, sprinklers tend to wet the entire plant, which can waste water or even lead to rot if some plant leaves do not fully dry. Soaker or weeper hoses, which have a porous surface or holes throughout the hose, are designed to be placed within the planter beds. With this method, water reaches the plant roots, rather than the leaves, creating healthy root systems and preventing leaf rot. It also eradicates water loss from evaporation, to help conserve water. The weeper hose should be placed within 10" of each plant, and can even be covered with mulch to remain inconspicuous. Dig a small hole near the plant and place a drinking glass in it to measure how much water is reaching your plant within a certain timeframe. As soaker and weeper hoses can be very sensitive to water pressure, determine your water pressure prior to using either type if item. You may also need to adjust your water pressure to the manufacturer's specifications. Planting items with similar watering needs together allows you to only water for set amounts of time as needed. Soaker hoses can also be wrapped around the base of newly planted trees to encourage proper root growth and tree growth. Slow-release watering bags can also help new trees stay hydrated without evaporation or runoff.

Very large planting areas, such as formal gardens or crop rows, can benefit from drip irrigation. With this system, water is applied evenly and slowly to plant roots using drip emitters and tubing. Water is not lost to evaporation, as it is applied virtually directly to the root system. As fertilizer can also be applied directly to the water and roots, less can be used, and collected or recycled water is often applied in this method. Such an application also keeps the leaves dry, preventing rot and fungal disease, and some systems have adjustable nozzles to determine the correct amount of water flow per plant. The upfront cost for a drip irrigation system can be significant, but can easily save on time, water resources, pesticides, and fertilizers once installed.

You can save water and money by using a timer on most types of watering systems, by setting them to only water for a certain timeframe daily or even weekly. The slow release units can be checked or filled once or twice a week, and the globes filled as needed to maintain a plant's health. To determine if the plant is getting enough hydration, check it regularly with a moisture meter. Use a rain barrel beneath your downspout to harvest rainwater for your plants, instead of using community water. Additionally, many hose nozzles and watering wands have on/off thumb tabs, allowing you to stop the water flow when repositioning or when you need to stop watering for a moment. All these small steps help reduce water usage, diminishing your water bill, and help your community. BestNest carries a full line of garden products for all your watering needs. Be sure to check out all the Watering Equipment on our site, to find the products that will help you keep your garden hydrated. For more personal assistance, feel free to call one of our Customer Service Representatives toll free at 877-562-1818 from 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday.

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