Nine Ways to Keep Your Lawn Green and Conserve Water

Many areas on the East Coast are suffering from dry conditions, which means lawns and gardens are suffering. If you’d like to keep your yard healthy, you’ll need to water it manually. That doesn’t mean you have to waste a ton of water.

Having your yard look nice is important, and can be done while keeping water usage down to a minimum. Planning ahead and following some basic tips can conserve water and save you money until those wonderful thunderstorms take over again.

If you’d like to keep your landscaping beautiful, without using more water than necessary, try these tips:

1. Make sure you’re only watering your lawn and gardens. If you’re hitting the sidewalk, house or driveway, you’re using more water than you need to.

2. Watering your yard in the evening or early morning, while the temperature is naturally cooler, will reduce evaporation and allow roots more time to soak in the good stuff.

3. Using an organic mulch in gardens and around trees holds in more moisture.

4. If your yard is hilly and water has a tendency to run off, water two or three times a day, for shorter periods of time. That way, you’re using the same amount of water, but losing less of it.

5. When you’re done watering, make sure your outdoor faucets are completely turned off. A little drip can amount to a lot of waste.

6. Before watering your garden use a trowel to check the moisture in the soil. If the dirt is still wet two inches down, you don’t need to water it yet.

7. Don’t cut your lawn so short. By adjusting your lawn mower blade up, the longer grass will hold in more moisture.