Plant Gardens 101

If you want to keep your grass and flowerbeds healthy in hot summer weather, but you don’t want to spend all day running around with pitchers of water or a hose, some sort of sprinkler system or irrigation is very important. But what would be best for your garden and what do you need to know to implement it effectively?

The easiest kinds of irrigation are ponds and ditches intended to deliver water around the vegetation that need it. A centrally located pond in your garden can help to keep the dirt wet. You won’t be able to keep fish in it as soil run-off may be toxic to the water, but it can supply a clever resource for other, tougher wildlife. Ditches are a more effective way of guaranteeing that water reaches every part of your yard, but unfortunately, both ditches and ponds suffer a lot from evaporation, due to having a considerably sized surface area exposed to the sun.

Sprinkler systems work around the evaporation dilemma by ensuring water is held in pipes until releasing it as spray, upon which plants will begin using it straight away. If your sprinkler system uses surface pipes, check and make sure they’re black to stop icky algae growth. However, you may discover that a below-the-surface sprinkler system is less of an eyesore. In an underground system, valves thrust up discreetly just above the surface of the ground and release a spray of water when set off.   

Drip irrigation is an even more conventional means of releasing water, providing it directly to the roots of your plants. This is usually the most efficient option in terms of water use. However, because water from drip irrigation collects in one area rather than dispersing over a more extensive area, drip irrigation is not usually the way to go for entire lawns.

You can control both sprinkler and drip systems remotely, by hand or hooking them up to a computer. In the latter case, it’s possible to manage these systems on a timed basis (plants often do best if watered early in the morning at nightfall, when they would naturally expect dew) or to connect your system to a monitor that checks the ground’s moisture levels.

Whichever you choose to irrigate, it’s essential to think conscientiously about where that water came from. In a lot of places, draining the natural water resources can have severe harmful effects on the ecosystem. You can mitigate this by using reclaimed water for irrigation. Ask your community HOA about your options.

It’s vital to assess the amount of irrigation you provide for your plants and grass. More does not always mean better. Too much irrigation can drown your plants or lead to a salt build-up of the soil surface as the excess water evaporates. Pay close attention to how your plants are reacting and you can keep regulating your systems to make sure you get the balance right.

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April Walters gets many of her leads from the real estate Web sites that feature her listings. And she writes articles on the ins and outs of real estate and home ownership for her clients.

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