Plants need water as essential requirement for growth. It is as simple as that. Just how much water plants need is a matter of debate. Water is a limited and valuable natural resource, which is rapidly becoming a scarce good and should be used with care.

We try to work our garden in an environmentally sound way, and that means that we try to limit the water. We are convinced that plants must fend for their own. This means that we do not use sprinklers on a regular base. If your plants get used to being watered, they develop 'surface roots'. It means you get lazy plants, that do not grow thick deep roots to get the water from the ground.

Without water, plants wilt and die. But too much water can be as bad for plants as not enough. If land plants are submerged in water for too long, especially if their roots are submerged, they may rot or drown from lack of oxygen. Provide your plants with as less water as possible but do no withhold it.

Plants in containers must be watered in all circumstances. Even if it poors, plants in containers will not receive enough water to sustain them for a period longer than a day or so. We have some annuals planted in containers but a very limited amount. We try to water them with rainwater that we collect in cointainer.

Watering Guidelines

If you feel that your plants must be watered, use the following tips to get the maximum benefit out of your effort.

• Apply water in the cool of the morning or evening when the wind is calm and water loss through evaporation is minimal.
• Avoid watering disease-susceptible plants at night. If water sits on plant foliage for hours, it can encourage fungal diseases to attack leaves, buds, flowers, and fruit. Plants susceptible to leaf spots, fruit rots, and flower blights are best watered in the morning, when the warming sun will quickly dry the leaves and discourage fungus development.
• Mulching with a layer of organic matter or gravel, at least 5cm (2in) thick or using opaque mulching sheets reduces the loss of soil moisture from the soil. Mulching also encourages good root development in the upper levels of the soil increasing the area of soil that the plants can explore for moisture. Little water is lost by water rising to the surface from deeper levels so mulching only conserves moisture in the upper layers. This may amount to as much as the equivalent of 20mm (0.75in) of rain. Deeper water will be conserved whether mulches are used or not.
• Provide an inch of water a week for many plants and lawn grasses. The idea is to keep the soil lightly moist and to prevent it from drying out completely, which would be damaging to most plants. But because plants don't always follow the rules, there are exceptions to this general guideline:
• Raising the height of mowing lawns reduces water loss from grass as the foliage shades lower leaves and the soil.
• More water may be necessary if you have hot weather, dry sandy soil, or crowded intensive plantings or containers.
• When the weather is cool, the plants are widely spaced, or the soil is heavy and moisture- retentive, less water is required.
• Young or new plantings require more moisture at the soil surface to help their root system get established. You should water more often to accommodate their needs. Buy and plant new plants in autumn and early spring so they get the best chance of growing roots before dry weather begins. Try to buy plants not yet in flower - once flowering begins root growth is sacrificed to flower production and without watering plants will wither.
• Mature plants with established root systems do not generally need watering but their growth can detoriorate when they are under drought stress.
• Hoeing may actually increase loss of moisture. However, hoeing to remove weeds is vital as weeds are very effective at depleting soil moisture.Invest time is eliminating weeds as soon as they show themselves in spring - weeds suck valuable moisture out of the soil.
• Set a rain gauge in an open area of the garden to learn how much water the garden receives each week. You can purchase an inexpensive one at a garden center. After each rainfall, check the depth of the rain inside. A commercial rain gauge is calibrated and easy to read. Judge the need for supplemental irrigation accordingly.

Conserving Water

There are about 18 weeks from May until September when plants' needs exceed rainfall. At first, the shortfall is met from soil reserves but these may peter out by July leading to about six weeks when watering might be needed! Conserving water not only saves money, it saves the environment.

• Use domestic wastewater, or gray water on potted plants or small gardens to reduce water use. Gray water is the leftover tap water from activities such as rinsing vegetables at the kitchen sink. Be sure to avoid water contaminated with water-softener salts, harsh detergents, fats, oils, or other extras that would harm plants, but household soaps and detergents are harmless to plants. Domestic gardening is unlikely to lead to pollution of ground water or streams and ponds when using waste water. However, gardeners should be aware that careless discharge of contaminated water could cause serious damage. Gray water is well worth using in your garden. It helps prevent stress on wells during drought and lowers water bills. Capture gray water in a basin stored close to the sink, where it will be handy to pull out and use. Transfer the gray water to a watering can before watering potted plants or new plantings. A little moisture in a time of need will make a big difference.
• Rainwater can be collected, and stored in tubs and other containers, from the roof of dwellings, garages, greenhouses and other structures. Catch water from a downspout into a container. This unfluoridated, unchlorinated water is ideal for watering plants. It comes at an ambient temperature, not shockingly cold from the tap, which is hard on warmth- loving plants. And perhaps best of all, at least from the gardener's perspective, it's free! You can tap every downspout around your house for maximum water yield or, if you prefer, just use the downspouts in the private parts of the landscape, the back and side yards. Be sure to cap containers so that birds, small mammals, and reptiles do not fall in and drown.
• Another option is to redirect runoff from downspouts into flower beds or lawn. Flexible tubing can be connected to the end of the downspout and directed into nearby plantings around the foundation of the house or to flower or vegetable gardens. For maximum benefits, shape beds like a shallow bowl to collect the water and give it time to soak in. Or, as an alternative, the garden could be made fairly level with lower moisture-gathering saucers made around newly planted trees or shrubs or plants with high moisture needs.
• Drop the soil level in the boulevard strip, the row of grass between the sidewalk and the street, so it will collect runoff rainwater that otherwise would be lost to street sewers or roadside ditches. A small 1- to 2-inch drop in soil level will be enough to do the job. If planting sod, make the soil level even lower to account for the extra height of sod roots. In cold climates, you may have to remove sand or grit that can accumulate after winter snowplowing to maintain an appropriate height.