What is the best way of gardening while reducing water use?
First, choose hearty plants that don’t require much water. There are many beautiful desert plants that only need occasional watering. For all other plants make sure you apply a 2 inch layer of mulch around the garden bed to prevent evaporation of water from the soil. Your plants will be much healthier from the consistent supply of moisture as well. Use a soaker or drip irrigation system to water directly into the soil instead of spraying your plants with the water hose and also water early in the morning. When you blanket an area with water you lose a good deal to evaporation… particularly if you water in the hot hours of the afternoon. Also, most of the water that lands on the leaves of your plants will just evaporate and if it sits on them too long it will invite bacterial and fungal diseases. Also, as the brilliant Tani already suggested, you can recycle water from your home as long as it doesn’t contain harsh chemicals. There are some filtering systems that will clean out the bad
