There are many pitfalls you can fall into when watering your lawn and/or garden. These can run up your bill while you watch your greenery wilt, dry out, and die due to underwatering. Overwatering, watering at the wrong time, runoff, evaporation, and improper equipment can ultimately cost you thousands every year and likely waste hours of your time without providing the results you want.
One of the most common and glaring errors people make when watering their lawn or flowers is using a hose without any nozzle piece attached. This does not allow for a controlled watering to take place and can often neglect other areas or plants completely. Only for the original patches that were pools dry out because they were unable to absorb the water that they were flooded with.
A common misconception is that if you flood your lawn with water that the water will eventually seep into the ground and the grass, plants, and flowers will soak it up. However, what actually happens is that the water washes away the topsoil, the important nutrient-rich layer of dirt that helps your plants grow strong and healthy. So, many people are, in fact, hurting their plants and grass rather than helping.
Maybe you don’t have the resources for a new sprinkler or drip system for your yard or garden, and that’s okay! If you want to continue using a hose until you are able to scale up, we recommend getting a hose nozzle, so you can adjust the spray level and pressure to mitigate overwatering.
When watering your lawn, plants, flowers, or landscape, go over it in sections with the hose and nozzle to ensure it is all damp without forming puddles then proceed to the next section. Once you have watered them, start at the beginning again (approximately after 15 minutes) to allow time for the first wave of water to absorb and guarantee your plants get the water they need to thrive.
Drip irrigation is very water-efficient, using far less water than regular sprinklers or watering by hand. To put things in perspective, drip irrigation can use one half of a gallon up to 4 gallons per minute. By comparison, a hose will use minimum of 2 gallons per minute and up to as many as 5 per minute, depending on the pressure.
If you have any additional questions, contact us and we’d be happy to go over the calculations and offer insight into how to make your California water system more efficient.
