Gardening 101: Watering tips

NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – During the summer water use across the Metroplex doubles. 

This is water that is sent outdoors to keep grass green and gardens growing. Learning to manage your water demands is crucial to gardening in North Texas. With such hot and dry summers, many plants are overly stressed. 

Learning what to plant and how to water those plants correctly is often the difference between a summer tragedy and a summer oasis. If I had to distill this advice to just a few points, I’d start with reducing your grass footprint. 

Turf uses a tremendous amount of water, the less of it you have the more water you’ll have for your other plants. Try to have only a third of your total yard space planted in turf. The rest should be hardscapes and landscape beds.

The next step is the most important step. Pick the right plants. Native or adapted plants mean that can survive the summer heat. Some will thrive. Don’t pour water on a bad idea, plant the right plants to keep your yard green and healthy.

The other advice I’d give is to go to drip irrigation. I did this for my front and side yard this last winter. It didn’t cost much to put in (under $200 dollars) and only took a couple of days. My plants love it. That slow drip of water under a bed of mulch is not only super-efficient, but it also helps the plants grow deep roots. Deep roots are the best for hot climates.

There is a slew of tips in the story, the more you do to lower your water bill the more you are likely to stick to gardening in this area. 

Plant selection is everything. 

Just add water.