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Home| Saving Water in my Garden

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Saving water in your garden is not difficult. Good gardening practice is all it takes for your garden to maintain itself with a minimum amount of water.

The simple "Richgro 4 steps water saving program" is a simple guide to making the most efficient use of your outdoor water whilst maintaining a stunning healthy garden.

1. CONDITION

A rich soil will help keep water in. Digging a good organic compost into your garden soil will ensure that it is conditioned to hold on to the water for plants to use and soils won't dry out as easy.

WHEN:

Twice a year at the start of Spring and Summer.

2. PENETRATION

Applying a soil wetter to your soil will help the water penetrate the soil and go to the plants' roots where it is most needed. A good soil wetter CAN SAVE UP TO 50% water in your garden.

WHEN:

Spring and Summer: every 6-8 weeks or as needed.
Autumn and Winter: every 8-12 weeks or as needed.

3. RETENTION

Water storing crystals will help retain water close to the roots for plants to use. Place close to the root zone and water in, it will swell up and store the water for plants to drink from.

WHEN:

At planting or for established plants one single application will replenish itself with each watering.

4. PROTECTION

A must for any garden, a layer of mulch applied to garden beds will help retain moisture decreasing the amount of watering required. Quality mulches also add nutrients and prevent weeds.

WHEN:

At the start of Spring, Summer and Autumn.

Your water saving garden shopping list:

Premium Organic Garden Compost
EZI WET water saving soil wetter
EZI-WET water storing crystals
Pinebark mulch

More hints and tips:

Group plants that have the same requirements together so as to reduce water usage where less is needed. Your plants will also be much happier.

When watering choosing the right time of the day can make all the difference - best to water in the cooler morning, avoid watering at night as this can encourage fungus diseases especially in lawns. Watering on windy days is also not recommended as the wind drift will cause significant waste. Watering with a good deep soaking, but less often, will not only encourage deeper root systems but increase drought tolerance of your plants. For example you are far better off to water your lawn twice a week for 15- 20 minutes than 3 or 5 times a week for 10 minutes. This is because frequent short watering does not encourage the development of deep root systems that will assist in the survival of plants throughout the hot summer months.

Install a reticulation system. This a very efficient way to use water and will ensure that water is applied directly to your plants and lawns thus reducing waste. Low cost reticulation systems which include tap timers and drippers are readily available from hardware and garden centres who can advise on the best system for you.

Wise plant choice can dramatically reduce the need for lots of watering. When you choose water efficient plants you are not only saving money on your water usage but creating a low maintenance garden. Call into your local garden centre. They have a huge range of waterwise plants to choose from Australian or exotic species.

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