Water Smarts in the Garden

It's Saturday afternoon here in Arlington, Texas and its been raining for the past 2 days. Being a gardener, I must say that I am very appreciative of the rain. But it got me to thinking about all of the dry hot days we experience here in Texas.

While most of my gardens are comprised of native plants, lets face it, they all need lots of water. I try to conserve as much as possible, so I'm always looking for new ideas to help me learn better ways to help me do that and help environment at the same time.

I ran across an article in the September/October 2009 issue of "Gardening How-To Magazine" entitled: Get Smarter About Water. It had some great ideas and I thought that I would share one of the tips that I really liked and thought that I would be able to do.

BRING INSIDE WATER OUT:

Garden water isn't limited to rainwater or the outdoor hose--use kitchen water too. If you've just boiled eggs, pasta, or vegetables, pour the leftover hot water on weeds and they'll soon wilt and die (great for weeds in driveway crevices and along walls). Let the water cool and you can use it on any of your plants--they'll especially love the cooking water's trace minerals. And don't dump water out when you rinse your almost-empty coffee pot. Instead, pour it on acid-loving plants like impatiens, begonias, irises, hydrangeas, aloes, and azaleas.

Look at the ways water goes to waste in your house and put it to good use. Place a pitcher on the kitchen counter for "recycled" water; whenever someone doesn't finish a glass of water, pour it into the pitcher. When it's full, use the water on houseplants or patio container plants. If your bathtub faucet leaks during your shower, put a bucket under the faucet, then use the water on an herb pot or window box.

I hope you find this article helpful. Like I said there are many other good tips on the website if you would like to visit www.gardeningclub.com.

Until next time.
Happy Gardening.