How to save water in your garden

The environment more than ever before is on the minds of people young and old. In Australia, saving water is particularly important.

Many parts of Australia have introduced water restrictions of one type or another.
Water costs you money. Reduce your usage and lower your water bill.
It's the right thing to do.
It may not be as hard as you think.

Water used on Australian gardens typically accounts for 30-50 of the water use in a household.

Use a bucket to wash your car rather than a hose.
Water your lawn when required, not frequently and out of habit alone.
Avoid using sprinklers and especially avoid a sprinkler that ends up watering concrete or paving and simply evaporating.
If you have a timer-based automatic irrigation system, make sure it's not watering more than it needs to.
Nice paving or decking in place of some garden spaces can reduce the need for watering.
Choose trees, plants and grasses that suit your location - natives are generally good at surviving with less water.
Don't use a hose to spray away fallen leaves and so on; instead use a broom.

Wash your car on the lawn - the detergent should be fine with your soil and can actually make it more absorbent which is a good thing.
Consider adding another rain water tank, perhaps to collect water from the roof of a shed or garage, and then use it to water nearby plants.
Water in the morning or evening, plus avoid watering when it's overly windy - this reduces the loss of water to evaporation or parts of your garden that may not need watering.
Slightly longer grass means more shade at the root level and minimises loss by evaporation.
Aerate lawn to allow water to penetrate rather than run off or, yes, evaporate.
Mulching to a depth of a couple of inches will go a long way towards preventing evaporation also. Aerate your lawn, but mulch your garden beds. Mulch also can limit weed growth.

Knows.com.au