Efficient Watering Methods for the Urban Garden

[Julianna_Mueller]

Hello ECHO Community,

I’m Juli, the current Urban Garden intern at ECHO North America. This year, I have enjoyed learning about how to garden with limited space and resources, but I have been struggling to find methods to conserve water. My internship began during the rainy season in Florida so I barely touched my hose, but now that we are in the dry season I have found hand-watering to be very time-consuming. I’m looking for advice on how to get all my plants watered efficiently, saving time and conserving water.

Here are several methods of watering I’ve been using in the Urban Garden:

1. Hose- I use this the most. It’s easy, very mobile, and gives you a lot of control in how much you’re watering, but it can take a lot of time.
   

   

2. Rain Barrel- It catches runoff from the rooftop and connects to drip tape. I fill it with water from the hose in the dry season.
   

   

3. Wicking Bed- It consists of a layer of towels, a few inches of soil on top, and a bucket with a hole in the lid. When the bucket is filled with water and set on top of the towels it slowly leaches out and is wicked up into the soil.
   

   

4. Hundred-Fold Bed- A layer of rubber holds a reservoir of water at the bottom, and a layer of fabric holds soil on top. There’s a PVC pipe that I can stick the hose in, and I only water it about once a week or less.
   

   

5. Reservoir Bucket- Similar to the Hundred-Fold Bed but a much smaller version. Rocks, coconuts, or bottles can be put at the bottom to form the reservoir and holes drilled into the side where the reservoir ends to drain excess water.
   

   

6. Microjet Irrigation- They’re connected to a pump and shoot out water in a circle of a few feet. These work really well to water perennials.
   

   

• What are labor-saving and water-saving methods you have tried?
• What are methods you can use without access to well water?

[nathanael_szobody]

My experience is that there are three things that make the biggest difference when it’s sunny and hot, day after day: increasing the amount of clay in the soil, doubling up the mulch, building partial shade over the garden bed.

As for watering, there’s just no way around it. If we were growing all natives, then we wouldn’t have to water at all, but since we decided to grow what doesn’t belong then we’re kinda stuck with the labor

However, clay trench irrigation is used in many hot places, like oases and such, and that’s a lot less labor intensive than walking around with the garden hose.

[nathanael_szobody]

Oh, I should add: grey water. Every sink and outdoor faucet in my house runs out to its own outside “drain” (spot of dirt). That’s at least 10 banana or papaya trees that get watered without any effort.

[Julianna_Mueller]

Thank you for sharing! I love the grey water idea and planting natives. Mulching and increasing organic matter have probably been the best solutions for me. I am working on getting more shade in my rooftop garden with trees and trellises, the sun is so intense they always look wilty at midday.