Getting Your Garden Watered

Getting Your Garden Watered

Tune-In this Saturday as we chat with Farmer Greg Peterson of the Urban Farm! We'll be talking about #EfficientGardenWatering

Broadcast Segment 1

1 | First think of your yard as a whole system and think outside the box as to where you

water comes from – We do live in a drought in the desert - Ways to water your garden:

• There is not just one way to find water to get your garden watered – each one has its own considerations
  • City Water
  • Flood Irrigation
  • Rainwater
  • Greywater
  • Well Water
  • Evap cooler runoff
  • AC Condensate
  • Get Creative

2 | Building a landscape that holds water

• Transition from gravel to mulch
  • Why mulch is good
    • Holds water
    • Builds soil
    • Grows microorganisms
• Use every opportunity to collect and sink in rain and greywater
  • Build mulch basins to trap and collect water from your roof and other yard surfaces
  • Install permeable landscapes
• Build Healthy Soil to hold water
  • 5 Components of healthy soil and why they are important
    • Air space
    • Water
    • Dirt
    • Organic Matter
    • Everything that is alive
• Shade is imperative
  • Build a shade arc around your house - Plant shade trees on the east and west sides of your gardens and structures
  • The most startling discovery I made a few years ago
    • Shade the ground for a 40 to 60 degree drop
    • Ground shade is similar to shading the west side of you home – it makes that much of a difference

Broadcast Segment 2

1 | Design a garden appropriate watering system and schedule

• For Gardens:
  • Hand watering – Great for meditating, not so good as it takes a lot of time and attention.
  • Traditional Drip Systems – Great for exact point watering, not so good for pressure and maintenance issues.
  • Drip Tape – Great for exact point watering, pressure issues and they don’t generally clog.
  • Overhead Watering - Generally not good as they; waste water through evaporation, and can cause plant damage
  • NEVER put your gardens and flowers on the same watering system as your trees and shrubs. Flowers and veggies require shallow water multiple times per week, trees and shrubs require deep water every few weeks.
• For shrubs and trees
  • Avoid drip irrigation for trees – use bubblers if at all possible
  • If drip is already in place install a drip ring – what is a drip ring?

2 | Remove Chlorine

• Why it is important
• Hose systems
• Whole house systems

Broadcast Segment 3

1 | Understanding irrigation systems

• Zones
• Timers
• Valves

2 | My Favorite way to water my garden – Drip Tape

• Lay flat drip tape
• System requirements
  • 10 psi pressure reducer
  • Poly pipe to get the water from the valve to the garden beds
  • Drip tape and connectors

Broadcast Segment 4

• Saturday April 4 we are doing a 2 hour getting your garden watered workshop online – Urbanfarm.org
• UrbanFarmWater.com for more content
• First and foremost, plan - Then when you are done planning…plan some more.
• Make it your goal to make your system as simple and inexpensive as possible.

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Podcast

Tune-in! Whether your water source comes from the tap, flood irrigation, graywater and rain, Farmer Greg discusses effective ways to get that water to where it's needed. How woody mulch, ground cover and drip tape can lead to good results. Removing chlorine from tap water and gopher proofing your gardens.