Ideas for keeping your garden plants alive

[Tom Lamar <lamar@pcei.org>]

In light of Moscow's ban on outdoor watering, here are a few suggestions to
help keep garden plants alive:

1) Keep your plants well weeded.  Those weeds are competing for the same
water as your flowers and vegetables, so pulling them out by the roots will
keep more soil moisture available for your plants.

2) Add mulch to the base of your plants to lower soil temperature and
reduce evaporation.

3) Collect "gray water" from home and bring it to your garden to water
plants that experience the most drought stress.  This is water that is used
in your home for another purpose, but can be recycled for use in your
garden.  Remember that when using gray water, avoid using water that
contains toxic cleansers.  It is best to use biodegradable soaps.  Here are
some ideas for collecting water:

a) Forget the friend, shower with a bucket!  Put a bucket on the floor of
the shower and collect water that falls around you.

b) Bail your bathtub out with a bucket.  If you take a bath, collect the
water in several buckets (avoid bath salts).

c) Collect water from washing dishes, brushing your teeth, etc. You can
scoop it out of the sink and put it in buckets, or you can put the bucket
under your drain and temporarily route the drain water into the bucket.
Don't collect water from your toilet!

d) Collect rainwater that comes out of your roof downspouts.

e) Collect water that is pumped out of your basement sump pump if you have one.

Tom

Thomas C. Lamar, Executive Director

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Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute
P O Box 8596; 112 West 4th St; Suite #1
Moscow ID 83843-1096
Phone (208)882-1444; Fax (208)882-8029
url:  http://www.pcei.org

Celebrating sixteen years of "connecting people, place and community".
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