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Reducing Your Trips to
the Well (or Water Tap)
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By Barbara Elmore, HCMG |
Water, water,
everywhere,
And all the boards did
shrink;
Water, water,
everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
—"The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner" by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Not to be overly
dramatic about the
ongoing lack of rainfall
in the hill country, but
the verse above fits our
situation too well. Even
when rainfall is normal,
less than 3 percent of
the water on Earth is
fresh. The other 97
percent is ocean water,
which neither people nor
plants can drink. |
If you are wondering
what you can do to keep
your plants alive as
summer continues and
communities ration
precious supplies, check
out the home page of the
Hill Country Master
Gardeners.
Here you will find
several tips about
sprinklers, and one
particularly easy
conservation idea: Use
the water that drains
from your AC unit on
your plants and grass.
You can attach a hose to
the drip faucet or
simply collect the water
in a container and
transfer it to your
plants. Also, think of
other sources of
reusable water, like the
dirty water in the dog's
water bowl, or
the water you use to
rinse dishes.
Drought-resistant
Mexican Mint Marigold |
Here are other simple
conservation ideas:
• If your lawn is
already established,
think smaller. Doug
Welsh, in his Texas
Garden Almanac,
suggests that homeowners
tired of caring for a
big lawn should adopt a
goal of removing 200
square feet of grass
annually. "Look for
areas that are not used
for recreation or other
functions," he adds.
"Increase landscape
quality by replacing
with groundcovers, shrub
plantings, decks or
patios, or vegetable
gardens."
• Before you replace
grass with those
groundcovers mentioned
above, make a list of
plants that keep their
beauty despite drought
and heat. You can see
almost 40 of these
plants in a
demonstration garden
created and maintained
by Hill Country Master
Gardeners at the Kerr
County Extension Office
at 3655 Highway 27. The
garden is open 9 to noon
and 1 to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday.
• If you are
establishing a lawn,
consider grasses that
require the least amount
of water. The
demonstration garden
includes five plots of
grass for homeowners to
evaluate, including St.
Augustine, Bermuda,
Zoysia and Buffalo.
• Forgo daily light
sprinklings of your
plants and water 5 to 6
inches deep once a week.
It's called tough love,
and it works on tough
plants.
• Mulch. Think of this
as putting a sun block
on your plants' roots.
Mulch helps the soil
preserve moisture,
reduces disease
problems, blocks out
weeds and just looks
good. Use hay, straw,
leaves, grass clippings
or compost, 4 to 6
inches deep. Check it
regularly and replace it
often, once a year at
least.
• When you do open the
water tap, do it before
the sun rises, when
neither the wind nor the
temperature is high. |
Let this short list spark
your gardener's
creativity. What can
else can you think of to
reduce your trips to the
well?
Click here to see the
Hill Country Master
Gardener Demonstration
Garden List
Jerusalem Sage looks
good when it's hot |
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