{"id":73661,"date":"2016-04-06T07:43:43","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T11:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=73661"},"modified":"2025-01-13T14:11:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T19:11:03","slug":"gardening-less-water-try-low-tech-irrigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/04\/06\/gardening-less-water-try-low-tech-irrigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardening with less water: Try low tech irrigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Photo<\/a>
(Photo by Paul Harrison<\/a>\/Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lingering drought and restrictive water-use rules don\u2019t mean you have to give up gardening. Instead, try some down-to-earth approaches like planting in smaller areas, using containers, buying fast-growing plants, applying mulch and compost, and installing efficient irrigation systems.<\/p>\n

Any of these can help produce labour-saving and cost-effective harvests, even in arid regions, said David Bainbridge, author of \u201cGardening With Less Water\u201d (Storey Publishing, 2015).<\/p>\n

\u201cLow-tech, low-cost irrigation is all about saving time in the garden, growing healthier plants and doing less weeding,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s optimizing the food you can get from a small plot of land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bainbridge subscribes to the \u201cwater on demand\u201d school of gardening, or using simple things like terra cotta pots and pipe buried in the ground to irrigate vegetables, ornamentals and fruit trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will save 90 per cent of the water commonly used with surface irrigation, which also encourages weeds and all too frequently evaporates,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s directed more closely just to the plants you want to water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buried clay pots or \u201cpitcher irrigation\u201d is thought to have originated in China thousands of years ago, Bainbridge said. \u201cFilled with water, a buried, unglazed porous pot of clay provides controlled irrigation by capillary flow to plants planted near it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pores outside the pots dry as the soil dries out around them, he said. \u201cThe sticky water molecules quickly refill the empty pores, and the water inside is drawn out for the plant to use.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting water directly to the crops minimizes weed growth, making it time-saving,\u201d Bainbridge said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to do any weeding, and you can wait a week before refilling the pots. It\u2019s perfect for container gardening or people without any land space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucy Warren, co-author of \u201cThe Drought-Defying California Garden\u201d (Timber Press, 2016), believes that emulating nature by using drought-tolerant plants is the productive way to grow, especially in Mediterranean climates.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo with plants that are adapted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey have a very specific ecology that lets them thrive in this (Southern California) area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most vegetable crops require 1 inch of water or more per week during the growing season, equaling three-quarters of a gallon of water per plant, a University of California-Davis\/Marin Master Gardeners fact sheet says.<\/p>\n

Here are some additional methods the fact sheet suggests for reducing water use or collecting it:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Plant small. Grow only what\u2019s needed.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Locate gardens away from prevailing winds, and use fences or tall plants as windbreaks.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\u2013 Group plants with similar water, soil, sun and root needs. Go native.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Design your layout in blocks, not rows, to shade roots and reduce evaporation.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\u2013 Choose fast-maturing edibles \u2013 50 to 60 days \u2013 and dwarf cultivars that use less water.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Cultivate high producers like chard, salad greens and strawberries.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Build swales and berms for water collection. Add rainwater catchment systems. Use grey water.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Fertilize less. Use mulch and compost.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Know the signs of water and heat stress, and irrigate only when needed.<\/p>\n

Online:<\/p>\n

For more about gardening with less water, see this University of California-Davis\/Marin Master Gardeners fact sheet: http:\/\/cagardenweb.ucanr.edu\/files\/184757.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lingering drought and restrictive water-use rules don\u2019t mean you have to give up gardening. Instead, try some down-to-earth approaches like …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":73662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1080],"class_list":["post-73661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lifestyle","tag-ap","mauthors-dean-fosdick","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283615,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73661\/revisions\/283615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}