10 quick water saving tips

Around the country we are watching the horror of living in a drought. We have friends who farm in the Free State whose water supply is nearly done. On Facebook we are seeing pleas from people in Colesberg and Aliwal who have no water - imagine that - turning on a tap for a drink and having NOTHING come out...Groups are springing up asking for water and money donations for stricken farmers...it is very sad.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit friends who live on the edge of the dam that brings Cape Town its water and I was shocked to see how low it is.

Theewaterskloof Dam

Some may blame global warming, others El Nino, others the sin of the government or whatever else...but the facts are simple: WE HAVE A DROUGHT PEOPLE and what are YOU going to do about it?

Driving back from this weekend away I was on high alert...I saw school fields being watered with sprinklers in gale force winds - most of the water blowing away. I saw sports grounds watering at 12 o'clock in the day...I even saw neighbouring houses using automated sprinklers where the one was shooting water onto the tar, not even the grass verge. And then there are the folk who say "I have a borehole/well point, so I'm ok!" Um...No!

I think many people suffer from the complex that they can get away with unscrupulous watering methods because everyone else will be watching their usage...thats just wrong thinking! Everyone should be doing what they can...I know I need to do more. 

So here are 10 things we already do (10th point in progress) that can help you if you are uncertain what to do to save a bit of water. 

1. Collect water from your shower in buckets and use this water on your non-edible plants. 

2. Buy plastic containers which fit into your washing basin and do all your rinsing catching the rinse water in this container which you can then put onto potted plants. Do the same when rinsing vegetables - save the water and give it back to the garden. I do assume with this that you are using natural soaps...

Basin within a basin

3. Make sure the last bits of water in water bottles from school; gym or outings are emptied into plants not down the drain. This also goes for dog water bowls – but choose non-edible plants for this water.

4. Mulch with a layer of compost then a layer of wood chip, newspaper (although this blows around and is perhaps better under the compost), straw or well rotted manure. Do not clear up leaves that fall – use them as mulch.

5. Water deeply less often.

6. Do not use a sprinkler especially on windy days. We installed drip irrigation but now need to connect it to the borehole system...when we have the money...so for now its buckets or bust.

7. Water first thing in the morning or last thing after the days heat. With the exception of squashes which tend to get powdery mildew if the soil is wet at night.

8. Collect tea in the kitchen from your left over bits in your pot and use that on all acid loving plants like berries, hydrangeas and camellias.

9. When planting new seedlings, keep the ground wet until they have germinated and then slowly taper off watering unless they are wilting. This forces the roots to go deep and you will eventually not need to water more than once a week if you have mulched.

Despite being watered once a week these heirloom tomatoes are doing very well.

10. If you have the financial ability, plan to install water tanks on your downpipes during the next rainy season. If you can’t, a cheaper alternative is what my mom did during their drought a few years ago which was to use big black bins with lids, cut out the lid for the downpipe to fit into, cut out a circle for a tap to fit on the bottom and put it on bricks under the downpipes. She was able to even collect dew this way for her garden.

I hope this gets you kick started - please feel free to add any more ideas in the comment section. 

Giving mulch a try

So this post starts with a gardeners confession...I have never mulched like other water wise gardeners.

I have always added layers of compost which can form a mulch layer until it breaks down in the soil, but it will not last the whole summer as a true mulch.

So what's mulch meant to do?

It has three main functions:

- to keep the weeds down through suffocation (Oh yeah!)
- to keep moisture in by creating an evaporation barrier layer
- to protect the roots from heat or cold

Mulch is typically a layer of organic matter, but some people also use shredded newspaper to function as a mulch. Ultimately the mulch will breakdown and provide further nutrition to the soil, but we chose straw which should last a season or two.


The reason I have never used mulch is two fold - laziness {blush blush} and not being true believer. I mean I know that all the experts do it and I once tried with freshly shredded garden matter but it just became such a mission I didn't see it through.

The reason I am reapplying my mind to this is that we have water problems....And weed problems....and when a woman is desperate....yeah, you know!

There are lots of us in our suburb all drawing water via boreholes or well points and by December the water pressure is so low that we can barely get enough water via the sprinkler. The weed problem is another thing I hope to control. We picked up a terrible little weed through some manure I got from a stable a year ago and it has been such a prolific grower that it is everywhere.

We have pulled up all the plants that we can find and now I hope to at least reduce the germination of any seeds that are in the soil.

So yesterday Superman went to buy two bales of straw from the local pet shop. It was the cheapest option that I could find at R48 per bale.

Then the kids and I spread the straw around all our newly planted seedlings. Beans, tomatoes, corn, marrows, pumpkin and cucumbers all got the same treatment.

When placing mulch on the beds it is important to not put it right up against the stem. This is to make sure that the plant still gets the water and that moulds and other diseases do not attack the plant in the super moist conditions.

We watered everything quickly so that the Cape Doctor that was blowing through our little town did not just lift it all and carry it away. (For those internationals - the Cape Doctor is the South East wind that blows in spring and summer. Called this because it blows away the city smog and pollution.)

So now we wait and see if mulch is the answer to my dilemma
of water and weed issues.

Do you mulch? What do you use?