Drip irrigation systems fully soak your plants and have a higher efficiency rate than overhead sprinklers or hand-watering.
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. The National Weather Service (NWS) recently announced that our region and much of the Southwest is experiencing a “new normal” that is hotter and dryer than it’s been in recent history. In the past decade, we’ve had higher temperatures, fewer inches of snowfall and less precipitation in general.
Nothing seemed to symbolize this sad state of affairs as well as the “non-soon” that we experienced in the past two years when our normal monsoon season didn’t materialize.
But, help might be on the way, and that’s where the good news comes in, also courtesy of the NWS. Its Climate Prediction Center announced earlier this year that most of Arizona has an above-average chance of receiving more rain than normal during the upcoming summer months. The true monsoon season might be back!
Keeping both this good and bad news in mind, it’s time to think about your summer watering strategy for your home garden.
First of all, with the prospect of a decent amount of rain this monsoon season, it might be time to invest in a rain barrel if you don’t already have one.
There are two main reasons to use rainwater harvesting systems. The first is water conservation, of course, and being able to use the water that comes from nature instead of turning on your tap. But the other reason is to manage and store rainwater runoff and prevent flooding on your property.
While there are several water reclamation methods available, using a rainwater barrel is probably the quickest and easiest water conservation method you can set up for your home garden.
First, you need to choose your location on a level, elevated surface so you can get pressure out of the hose at the bottom of the barrel. The next step is to align the barrel with your downspout to capture the rain from your roof. Then, connect the hose and place it in your garden. It’s that simple.
But you can’t just count on rain – even rain captured in barrels – to keep your garden green all summer long. This is particularly important for newly planted trees, shrubs, flowers and veggies waiting for monsoon season. They need water now.
You can try hand-watering, but this takes a lot of time and effort and will waste a great deal of water. Why? Because water rushes out at such a high rate from a hose (something like 400 gallons per hour) that you lose most of it to runoff. Most of the water will not get more than an inch or so down into the soil.
Your garden needs moisture that’s delivered slowly and steadily so that it penetrates further and gets down to the roots. That encourages them to grow deep, which makes for healthier and stronger plants.
That’s why we are big fans of drip irrigation at Warner’s Nursery. Drip irrigation systems fully soak your plants and have a higher efficiency rate than overhead sprinklers or hand-watering.
Plus, using a drip system lets your plants “breathe.” In addition to water, roots need air. Sprinklers and hand watering produce puddles that can displace air in the soil, but because drip irrigation works slowly, drop by drop, it never displaces the air in the soil.
Drip irrigation is not as expensive as many people think. For 100 feet of watering, it will cost you a few hundred dollars to have a system professionally installed, or you could do it yourself for about $100. With the gallons of water saved and the plants gardeners don’t have to replace because they have dried out, the cost can be recouped very quickly.
Please stop by or give us a call if you have any questions about rain barrels, drip irrigation or how you can better water your plants to keep your garden lush this summer.
Happy gardening! FBN
By Misti Warner-Andersen
Misti Warner-Andersen is the manager of Warner’s Nursery & Landscape Co., located at 1101 E. Butler Ave. in Flagstaff. To contact Warner’s Nursery, call 928-774-1983.