Water-Wise Gardening
We’re All Downstream
After the grueling drought we have been fortunate to have received 5-6 inches of rain in the past few weeks, effectively ending the drought for now.
Several weeks ago Wilton Township sent an automated voicemail to all Wilton residents who are on town water telling them to take strong steps to conserve water. For the rest of us on wells, it was becoming an impossible task to try to limit the drought damage as wells were running dry. Most lawns suffered permanent damage in spots that will require composting and overseeding to keep the weeds from moving in.
Curb appeal is important for homeowners and part of that curb appeal is the landscaping you create. The problem with most landscaping is that it requires lots of water to thrive and keep its lush look. The typical residential home uses about half of its water consumption during the growing season on its landscape. Think about creating a plan that is attractive to view, useful for relaxation, and conserves resources -- water, and labor and doesn’t use chemicals.
Grass is one of the biggest culprits of gulping our precious water, mostly because it's such an abundant part of the landscape. Many developers scrape all native vegetation off a lot and replace it with grass, virtually all of which are non-native European species. Do people really need 50,000 square feet of lawn? Consider including several large islands of shrubs - it creates a much more visually interesting property. Also valuable is to add native shrub beds to the borders of your property. When multiple homeowners do this the result is a native corridor that will be much more supportive to native wildlife. These shrub beds and borders require much less water, time and other resources to maintain.
Do not mow your lawn less than 3”. This has several beneficial effects: the taller grass conserves moisture, provides more plant material to photosynthesize to produce stronger roots for better drought resistance, and helps shade out weed seed germination.
Do not use chemical fertilizers. The intense readily-available chemicals produce a surge of growth. The excessive growth creates a greater need for more moisture while creating weakened grass that is prone to disease and insect attacks.
Trees are also important in the water-wise landscape because of the shade they add and the microclimates they create. As a rule of thumb, put deciduous trees to the SE, south and SW of your property to shade your home, reduce air conditioning costs and water loss. In the winter the deciduous trees will allow the light to come through to help heat your home. Plant evergreens to the north to block cold winds that prevail in the winter.
When watering, water just the roots, or more accurately, the soil. All healthy plant inputs are about the soil, which supports the plant. Consider a drip watering system. This can be a do-it-yourself project set up to a small battery-operated timer at the faucet. The drip watering system slowly delivers water to only the plants you want to water.
Use more native plants! Landscaping with native plants is definitely in vogue—and for good reason. Less formal looking natural landscapes, once established, require less watering, fertilizing, mowing and pruning chores. However, there are also many non-native landscape plants that are quite well adapted to our area of cold winters and hot dry summers.
Here’s a rule of thumb to lower landscape maintenance: PUT THE RIGHT PLANT IN THE RIGHT PLACE. If plants grow naturally in full sun and gravelly well-drained soil, that’s the kind of place they need to be in your yard. Conversely, if plants in the wild are woodland types that live in filtered light and organic soil, they need those conditions in your yard. While it is possible to modify existing site conditions somewhat with soil amendments it is impractical to attempt this in very large areas. It is best to choose plants to fit the site.
