Phoenix Gardening Tip: Creative Watering (Part 1)
Here in the Phoenix desert, we take our water conservation seriously. Yes, we have excellent water management. But we also boast some 400+ golf courses in Arizona, with Phoenix and Scottsdale weighing in heavily, and a “lake” that loses boatloads of water through evaporation.
So when I set my sprinkler to sprinkling, it freaks me out to forget about it. Four hours later, there’s a river running down the street and as I curse the source of the tributary, I realize it’s me. It’s hard to escape my wrath.
But more than wasted droplets streaming down the street, I see dollar signs…which the City of Phoenix is only too happy to reinforce when they send the water bill.
We will install a drip irrigation system someday. In the meantime…hose timers! These are so simple, they’re brilliant.
This really easy Orbit Garden Hose Timer serves a new desert garden with xeriscape plants that I just installed. I took a soaker hose and weaved it in and around my new plants, and then tacked it down with fabric pins
. (These are normally used for tacking down landscape fabric). I covered everything with mulch. Then I attached one end of a hose to the soaker hose, and the other end to the hose timer (which is connected to the faucet). I set the timer and…it waters automatically!
I have no idea how I missed this this innovation. So, if you don’t have a drip irrigation system, this is the next big thing. Even if you do have a drip system, this is an easy solution for that out-of-the-way garden…or even a veggie garden…that isn’t served by your drip system.
More to come on creative watering…there’s so much more out there that isn’t available at the big box stores!