According to the weather forecast the clouds are suppose to roll in tonight and bring us rain for the next 6 days. And you know what? I’m pretty happy about it.
Someone asked me the other day on facebook how I water my garden.
I was totally embarrassed to say that I water my entire garden by hand. Yep, just me and my little hose and a super powered nozzle.
When we first moved here, our backyard had a decent sized patch of grass and the rest of the yard was wooded. There was no need for a ton of sprinklers. Then, the summer of 2009 I decided I wanted to grow a huge garden, so we cleared a bunch of brush, and well, the rest is history.
Even though we’ve carved out more growing areas over the years, we never really stopped to think about putting some sort of slow drip watering system in. Mostly because of the energy {the handsome husband} and the cost it would take to install them.
Plus, when we go to put our house on the market someday, I seriously doubt the next family who moves here is going to want to 10 million sprinkler hoses and raised garden beds galore everywhere. Let’s face it, having a large garden is a lot of work, and most people are not going to want one this size.
So even though it sounds strange, I don’t actually mind hand watering my garden. I find it relaxing, and I can pull weeds out of the garden beds while I’m watering the plants too.
But when I have to water on a daily basis because the weather is in the 80’s for a whole week, well then it becomes sort of a chore.
So bring on the rain. I’m ready for a break!
~Mavis
P.S. How do YOU water your garden? Soaker hoses? Drip irrigation, a good old fashioned watering can? Mavis wants to know.
Stephanie says
I water my yard and garden by hand. In total, I have 3,000 square feet. I’m working on planting wildflowers in the back part, as really only the dogs go back there. But like you, I find it very relaxing. It’s actually the favorite part of my day. I go out at dusk, when the temps have dropped to a mere 90 degrees, and just… water. The birds are chirping, the air has cooled (by desert standards), and it’s just peaceful.
And well, let’s be honest here – I’m far too cheap to put in an irrigation system, and I don’t want to sell my house in a couple of years with pipes and hose running everywhere. Let the next owners make this yard their own, with less meddling from me.
Mavis says
My thoughts exactly!
Katherine says
I’ve used soaker hoses, but they didn’t work well for me. I’ve also used a small removable irrigation system which worked great, but was a lot of upkeep. So, I’m back to hand watering for now. I feel like I waste less this way.
Rachael says
When I saw ‘hand water’, I thought buckets. We collect rain water off the roof and I bucket water until that is gone. Then I have a soaker hose that runs under the newspaper and compost mulching the garden currently. I guess the advantage of heavy clay soil is that it holds the water quite well, so after a rain, even days in the 80s means I have a few days before I need to water. Now, come June, July and August, I will need to water every day, sometimes twice a day since the days are hitting 100’+ most/every day. Its actually been a cool and wet spring so far, so heres to hoping for a ‘cool’ and ‘wet’ summer!
Gardenpat says
I water by hand too, but we just put in a 4 (55 gallon) water/rain barrel system to use some of our rain water! After last night’s rain, I have 220 gallons of water that I can access with my garden hose! I am so excited!!!
Kelly A says
I do it all.. Irrigation drop lines, soaker hoses, hose and watering can. Whatever works the best each time I water.
Ursula says
By hand~ with a hose, watering can & buckets.
Like you, I enjoy watering this way since it allows a chance to take time to weed a bit here & there as well as enjoy the progress that is taking shape in the different areas of the garden. I dont like overhead watering with a sprinkler , prefer to have a gentle shower around the plants. Ask me again in the hotter days of summer, I’ll be wishing for soaker hoses by then. :- )))
Penelope says
I used to use drip on the garden, but between pets and the sun, among other things, it was just huge and very expensive to maintain in time and $$. So we switched to broadcast sprinklers and my garden and orchard are much happier. We live in a cold desert so we must water regularly. I still use a form of drip on the flower beds. I still struggle with watering since I grew up in a place where we didn’t water anything except at planting times, and maybe if it forgot to rain for a week.
Mary Ann says
I hand water with a hose. Some things need to be watered every day in our So Cal climate, but others can wait several days in between.
I’m sure I’ll be wishing for a drip system later in the season, but for now, I like seeing the daily progress and being able to do a little weeding while I water.
Teri Schladensky says
I hand water the vegetable garden – a little over 600 square feet. The berries patch and fruit trees are watered by the automatic sprinklers.
Kelly says
I only water by hand with a garden hose and my fave nozzle… even when its over 100 degrees here where I live. Its completely relaxing.. Mavis, don’t be embarrassed!, watering by hand is good for the soul ♥
Mavis says
Well it’s nice to know I am not the only one. 🙂
Wynne says
I’ve hosed by hand, but I’m not a faithful enough waterer (hello bitter cucumbers!). Around the middle of last summer I installed a cut-to-fit soaker hose setup from Gardener’s Supply and put it on a timer. Love love love it. I doubled my beds this year and bought more of that hose. It’s was easy to put away at the end of the season, too, if you want something impermanent.
Andrea says
I have a little container garden, so watering isn’t a big deal for me. But I also live in western WA, and it just started raining (like…as I was reading this post), and I have to admit that lazy ol’ me doesn’t mind that at all.
Mavis says
I am LOVING the rain too! 🙂
Jess says
We have 2 rain barrels and water by hand with a pump sprayer…I too find it relaxing. It gives me the chance to see and talk to all my plant friends!
Crystal says
I don’t even use a hose. I have a water trough that I fill up with the hose every couple of weeks (depends on how fast I go through the water) then hand dip the water out and carry it to the garden with a bucket. Surprisingly, I find this less work than hooking up, unrolling, using, unhooking, and rerolling the hose whenever I want to water the garden. Instead, I only have to deal with the hose every few weeks to fill the trough. Plus my dogs then have a pool to play in when it is hot!
Katie says
Soaker hoses. I have a city lot, however, so I just have to spend an hour in the spring and fall to roll and unroll (& test & unkink!) about 200 feet of soaker hose. I turn them on for an hour in the evening every other day when it’s hot. I also have a few raised beds and containers that I hand water. Works awesome, mostly because I’m lazy. 🙂
Brandy says
We have a drip system for the regular plants, but anything edible gets watered by hand. I think it’s a pretty calming routine.
That’s not a weed Mavis! Purslane is perfectly edible.
Shell says
I have 3 potato towers plus two blueberry plants in pots and carrots w/thyme in two pots together. I water those by hand. I have a 4×8 raised bed that I have a soaker hose hurried about an inch below the surface. Since I live in Dallas, TX, the heat will hit us hard, so I’ll mulch the bed in once the plants get bigger and it begins to get hotter.
I have yet to get my peas, green beans, or strawberry bed set up (death in family slowed me) but hope to get those next weekend. Those will also be hand watered. Finally getting my 2yr old to help water, he loves to play in the water more than water the plants. Lol
Any hints on how often to turn on the soaker hose and for how long to run it? I believe an hour is too long as the water soaks to the ground below. As the heat rises to scorching temps, I think the hour will be great every other day. But the upper 70’s to mid 80’s is current temps…so lost!
Hey Mavis, side question, my tomatoes have yellowing on the leaves…is that a nutrient deficiency? I planted them with egg shells for the calcium. What is also good for them? No bugs, slugs, or other creepy crawlies on them either…I’ve been watching closely.
A-M says
I live in the UK, so for the most part I rely on Mother Nature to water my garden. There has been about a fortnight of proper sunshine in the past 3 years during which I had to hand water, but we’re so grateful for what little Summer we get that I cannot complain. Unfortunately we’re one for a record wet year, and it was a record breaking year for rain last year too so that’s a lot of precipitation. My spuds had to be dug up early to avoid blight and several items (carrots, rutabaga, quince) did nothing at all. It was rubbish. That being said, my indestructible leeks and spinach still kicked butt. The must not mind soggy soil.
jubob says
we water by hand and watering can. it uses less water from the well and when we used the sprinkler, we grew more weeds. soooo we walk up and down the rows. when we first plant we put flags to mark the rows and hills(cucumbers,melons, etc) and just water in between. we are working on a rain barrel system to save the runoff from the chicken mansion hoping to save water. the whole process of gardening is health boosting,mental health, physical health, belly health.
Gardenpat says
Oh, Jubob, you will love a rain barrel!!! Our 4 barrel system using 55 gallons plastic barrels was pretty inexpensive and is amazingly simple to use!!!! On this dry, 84 degree day, I was able to water my whole garden with water from the hose that we connected to the rain barrels and I still have plenty to water again on another day!!
Deanna says
Wow! I thought it was strange that you watered by hand and now I see I am the minority. We have bubblers in our raised garden beds. We have drip irrigation to our 30+ trees and a sprinkler system to our grass, both front and back. I am having to water my strawberry pallets by hand right now and am thankful I only have to do that twice a week right now. In central California, the temps can easily get to 100 for July and August. (gross, I know) so I will have to water at 4:45am when my husband gets up. And even then it might be 80. But it’s just 4 pallets.