3 tips for water-wise gardening

Recently bought a property in Westbrook and keen to get going on your garden? Then use the winter ‘downtime’ to plan your ideal landscape – the layout of your garden, the plants and shrubs you’re going to use, and the features you’re planning to introduce, like pathways, pots, trellises and benches. Of course, another crucial aspect to consider when planning a South African garden is how to make it water wise. We live in a water-scarce country, as we know all too well in the Eastern Cape, and we need to do everything we can to conserve this precious resource.

Here are three water-saving tips to bear in mind as you plan, plant, pot and prune your way to the garden of your dreams.

1. Be picky about your plants
Choose a variety of indigenous and drought tolerant plants and shrubs, which will need much less water to survive and thrive. According to Garden and Home, these include shrubs like plumbago and rosemary, bulbs and corms like agapanthus, dietes and tulbaghia, perennials like salvia and pelargoniums, and succulents like crassulas and echeveria.

2. Mulch, mulch, mulch
According to Life is a Garden, mulch is “any substance that can be placed on the surface of the soil around plants in order to keep moisture in the soil.” They also say that it’s “one of the quickest, easiest and most cost-effective ways to save water in your garden.” So, once you’ve planted your garden, don’t forget to put down a layer of mulch – this can consist of organic material like compost, bark chips, leaves and shredded newspaper, or inorganic material like pebbles and stones.

3. Water wisely
When it comes to watering, The Gardener recommends that you do so before 10am or after 4pm to reduce evaporation. They also suggest that you water “less frequently, but for longer” in order to “encourage deeper root systems resulting in stronger plants.”