Water Saving Tips

With the use of the smart gardening water site (http://www2.smartgardenwatering.org.au) I was able to work out how much water my front garden bed needs. Even though I do live on a 2 acre property this small area is the only area that my household waters. In the past, we would only water this garden bed in the summer time, but this past summer was an exception for this.

My front garden consists of:
-4 Camellia sasanquas in pots
- 4 Azalea varieties
-1 Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
-6 medium sized nandina domesticas and 8 small nandina domesticas
-1 Iceberg Rose

Additional Information:
-Emerald typically has a Loam soil with the average rainfall being 1016mm.
-About a 10m2 area size, including the pots.
-It is usually watered with a common garden hose which on
average uses 23 L/minute
- All of the plants are covered with coarse organic mulch
-The area is mostly flat maybe with a gentle slope
-The garden bed is mainly covered
-The position of the garden bed is in full sun but with wind protection.



With all of this information the website calculated that supply of water needed does meet with the demand of the plants. This graph shows that I would only have to water the garden bed once for the whole year; in the month of January.

Now that I know this site exists I might use it again in the future summers. Even though the drought in Melbourne seems to have broken, saving water should still be in the mindset of all Victorians and Australians.

Here are some more reasons why water saving is beneficial:
-Water efficient gardens can reduce your water bills and running costs.
-Water efficient gardens reduce the need to build more dams, which may have to be situated in environmentally sensitive areas.
-A water efficient garden contributes less to stormwater flow, reducing the need for costly public stormwater projects.