Think about where you want to spend your water budget this year. In the garden, natives, edibles, and herbs offer the best return on investment.
Edibles are always a good investment, especially this year when farmers will be growing less, letting fields lie fallow because water is not available. it's likely produce prices will increase sharply this summer, and it will be more cost-effective to grow your own, provided you plant the appropriate varieties and amounts so that your harvest does not go to waste. With a productive garden, you won’t skimp on eating the 5 to 9 daily servings of fruits and vegetables needed for optimal health.
For container gardening, an EarthBox or a do-it-yourself equivalent is a great way to save water and have a productive crop. As long as you keep the water reservoir filled in such containers, the roots can wick water as needed, and the soil stays uniformly moist.
A drought-tolerant garden is another good investment. Depending on the weather, an established native garden will need no water or infrequent deep watering. Native perennials, shrubs, and trees that were planted in the past year or two often need some water every few weeks to grow the deep roots that make them drought tolerant. The relatively small amount of water they get this summer will pay off for many years.
Drought-tolerant shrubby groundcovers such as ceanothus (at left), a California native, need little or no summer water once established.
Trees and shrubs can take up to 4 inches of mulch, and unplanted areas can handle a lot more.
Always pull the mulch a few inches away from stems and trunks so they won’t rot.
Always pull the mulch a few inches away from stems and trunks so they won’t rot.
Here are some low-cost and no-cost approaches to having a garden and saving water.
The first step is to stop wasting water. The EPA’s Fix a Leak Week web page (http://tinyurl.com/6pubdq7) offers statistics on the amount of water wasted, as well as helpful guidance for finding and fixing leaks. If you use sprinklers or drip irrigation, be sure to check regularly for leaks or malfunctioning heads.
Runoff is another obvious waste of water. Whether you water by hand, with sprinklers, or with a drip system, all the water should be getting absorbed into the soil. If it’s not, water slower and longer. Cycle an automatic system on and off, with fewer minutes per cycle, until runoff is eliminated. For manual watering, use a good water breaker (Dramm is the best) with a gentle flow.
Protect tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers from waterborne diseases by keeping the leaves dry.
Reduce losses from evaporation by watering early or late in the day, and adding mulch. You can get a free truckload of mulch from tree trimmers. Add 3-4 inches of mulch to established trees and shrubs. If weeds are a problem, lay down a couple layers of cardboard or newspaper (3-5 sheets thick) first. Adding mulch keeps your soil alive and your plants healthy. The only exception is plants native to dry rocky hillsides, which may do better with a thin layer of mineral mulch.
At one community garden, a fellow gardener doesn't water her tomatoes after July 4. Well-mulched tomatoes, winter squash, and dry beans don’t need water once they’ve set fruit, even in our summer-dry climate. The tomatoes don’t get as large, but the flavor is intensified.
With minimal mulch, watering is needed at most every 5 days. Grow your own and experiment with interesting varieties! Mediterranean herbs such as oregano and thyme are drought tolerant, and herbs in general are easy to grow and a delight to have on hand when all you need is a snippet.
If you grow more than you can use (or even if you don't), give some to food banks, which expecially appreciate donations of fresh fruits and vegetables. For smaller amounts, try the South Palo Alto Food Closet behind Covenant Presbyterian Church (near E. Meadow & Middlefield, 10-2 MWF). If you have more than 4 flats, try St. Anthony Padua Dining Room at 3500 Middlefield Rd., Menlo Park (8-2 daily except Sun.).
Adding compost to your vegetable beds (or your lawn!) will increase the water-holding capacity of the soil. For a lawn, sift the compost to remove larger chunks, then add about 1/4 inch at a time, enough to partially cover the grass but not enough to smother it. Usually the compost disappears within a week. Vegetable beds can take a couple inches of compost, either incorporated into the soil before planting or as a top dressing before mulch is added.
Residents of Los Altos, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale can get free compost from the Sunnyvale SMaRT Station (301 Carl Road); call ahead for availability and details. Horse stables such as Portola Pastures (1600 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto) offer as much free composted horse manure as you want.
copyright 2014 Tanya Kucak
