Today, we cannot hope with a beautiful ornamental garden and a beautiful vegetable garden, without setting up systems for recovering the cheapest water on the market, that which falls from the sky.
water in the garden
The current context of water shortage forces all gardeners to tackle the subject of garden watering head-on. Water runs out, becomes a precious commodity and suffers consumption restrictions every summer. To begin with, we must consider that we are not going to water with drinking water from the tap.
Recovering rainwater therefore becomes an issue in the garden. This water costs nothing, but recovery systems must be put in place. A priori, any roof can have a system that can recover and store water. There are several possibilities: recuperator, tank containers, water walls, depending on your needs, your space and your means.
Watering: anticipating absences
When the weather is hot, it is recommended to water after sunset. Morning watering will evaporate faster if it is hot. The leaves of the plants never need water, so watering should be done on the ground. Watering the leaves of tomato plants, for example, risks promoting the development of cryptogamic diseases. Mildew is a pest for tomatoes, it is impossible to get rid of it, it will ruin all your efforts in the vegetable garden.
Plants in the ground will suffer less than potted plants which will take more heat and whose roots are limited.
There are several systems for regular, quasi-automatic watering. The drop by drop programmed on a recuperator tap diffuses the stored rainwater at the most interesting times and for a duration that you determine.
Ollas are earthenware irrigation pots, which you bury in the ground near the plants you want to water. You can therefore rest easy for a few days, the earth will diffuse the water through porosity. The ideal is to plant in a circular pattern around the ollas. This system is very efficient and autonomous.
A living soil
Living soil is airy soil. Everyone knows the saying “one hoe is worth two waterings“. For this nothing better than earthworms. A well-aerated soil will allow water to penetrate better and evaporate less. The ideal is to work the soil without destroying the life that enriches it.
Some garden tools like the grelinette are prized by gardeners. This claw has several teeth which works by lever makes it possible to work the ground on about twenty centimeters without turning it while respecting the micro-organisms which compose it by successive layers.
Protect the floor
Collecting rainwater is rule number 1, but the other rule is to protect the ground to prevent evaporation. A well-aerated soil will not be enough, it is necessary to prevent the surface crust of the soil from drying out. For this, the advice is to mulch the soil. There are mulches sold in garden centers to protect plants and crops in the vegetable garden, but you can also recover “waste” from the garden to protect the soil: grasses, lawn clippings and shredded material.