Tip of the Day - Don’t Water the Sidewalk
Yesterday, for the first time this season, I had to water my outdoor plants. I was expecting rain all day, but it didn’t happen and the strawberries I planted looked like they were in danger of wilting. So here are some tips for watering efficiently.
- Don’t water the sidewalk. Watch your aim. If you’re using a sprinkler, make sure you aim it to cover as much of what you’re trying to water as possible. Driveways, sidewalks, and bare dirt don’t need watering.
- If you have water left over from making pasta or steaming veggies, use that to water your plants.
- Water in the morning so the water can soak in before it evaporates. Watering at night isn’t as ideal, because it can encourage leaf mold.
Check out King County’s website for more watering tips.
May 13th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
I’m wanting to get rid of my lawn so I don’t have to water much at all. My plan is to plant some native, drought-tolerant shrubs and perennial flowers and put some woodchips down around them. Hopefully the rain will do the watering for us! Then I’ll only need to water my vegetable garden. Maybe one day we’ll start collecting rainwater to water the garden.
May 13th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
great tips thanx
May 13th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
“Don’t water your sidewalk.” I love that. You’d think it would be common sense but I cannot count the number of sprinklers I pass that get more of the sidewalk and street wet than the lawn.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
The other day my grandfather mentioned hosing off the deck and I wanted to suggest sweeping it off instead to save water, but I didn’t. I would have with most people, but you know how these things go.
May 14th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Great quote! I just saw my neighbor water the street today. Terrible.
Thanks for the tip about not doing overnight watering. I only do that out of convenience.