Through the hot summer months plants can struggle to survive, so to make sure that you don’t need to replace them every year. It is important to ensure that they are properly watered. It is vital that you soak the ground but this can take a considerable amount of time if you have a large garden. So it will be a good idea to consider burying specialized water hoses to make the job easier. This way there is no need to spend all your spare time protecting your plants as there is equipment you can use that will take care of the job for you.
Some plants will not need lots of care and attention but still require that you make sure that the roots are well watered, especially in the warmer months. Finding the best way to get water to the roots will make life much easier. To stop water from quickly evaporating it will be best to install a soaker-type irrigation system, which simply means burying water hoses made especially for the job under the ground by a few inches, close to the plants’ roots. This way the water gets right to the roots and you are not left hoping that it soaks through the dry soil. The last thing you will want is for the water you have put in the plants to drain away to a path or area and soak the ground where there are no vegetables or flowers.
It will be possible to get several gallons of water to the roots over the course of a day if need be, and the short time it will take to install your soaker makes it a real time saver and water saver. Soakers normally come in 5/8” diameter hoses but are possible to install a 1/2” diameter hose for smaller gardens that don’t require as much water, and being shorter it won’t take up lots of room in the flower bed.
The process works is the same for whatever size hose soaker you use: the hose is laid next to the root of the plant, covered with soil and the water slowly seeps out of the hose. Making use of this irrigation process is hugely convenient, as the best time to water many plants is very early in the morning, and not many people will want to get up at that time just to water the plants.
The hose is going to soak the ground in the area that needs it most, which means that you can have the garden display you want without having to give up a lot of your time. It will also mean that you don’t have to inconvenience friends and neighbors when you go on vacation to prevent your plants from dying.
Saving Water With Root Level Irrigation
Just as it seemed that the best way to water flowers and vegetables was by way of surface drip irrigation, it appears that now there is an even more efficient way. With the use of a moist tube buried a few inches beneath the surface of the soil, there can be up to 80% water saved thanks to a system that looks to be the most efficient way yet to water the roots of plants. So-called root-level irrigation not only saves on watering time but will save water as well.
Garden sprinklers have always been a wasteful way of watering, but now there are considerably improved methods of irrigating a vegetable garden and saving water. If the buried hose is fitted properly, there will not be a problem for the plants as they will get just the amount of water they need and none will be wasted. So much water is wasted when the water is sprayed on the flowers and vegetables that are effectively getting the water to the roots–where it is needed–is very important.
If you want to show your green credentials you could use a garden soaking hose when watering the roots of your plants. With this, the water soaks right into the soil close to the roots meaning that there is not a lot of water going to waste. This will also save you time as you no longer have to water the flowers manually. It is also the best way to do the job when you are watering a vegetable garden as there is much less chance of your plants getting leaf diseases caused by over-watering. If you are paying water bills, you will also benefit as there.
Another way to save water when watering a vegetable garden or flowering area is to use a garden hose timer. These are fairly straightforward to set and will allow you to decide when your garden is watered, although it is vital that you double-check your settings the first couple of times to make sure that you’ll be irrigating as planned.
Integrated hose timer configurations can easily be set to work when you are not there, so you don’t have to worry that plants will be dry and dead if you are not able to manually attend to your watering. With root level irrigation there will be no need to worry that you will have to leave the health of your plants or vegetables to inefficient garden sprinklers again.
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