Being green easier with support
They say it’s easier to lose weight or quit smoking if you have a supportive team around you. I think the same holds true for trying to be “greener” by using fewer chemicals in the home and garden and conserving water, my latest quest.
Heading up my Team Green are idealistic friends and readers who cheer when I write about trying to recycle and conserve. Their sweet comments — “You’re helping the planet!” — keep me motivated.
Skeptical friends and relatives are also important team members. Captain of that squad is my brother. “Now let’s talk about how often you shut off the water when you shave your legs in the shower,” Mark asked when I wrote about that once. “Every time? Occasionally? Once?” A little grilling by the skeptics keeps me honest.
(The answer to the shaving question is, less than half the time in winter but almost always in summer. Personal comfort gets factored into my save-the-Earth initiatives. I’m no zealot, just a regular Jane trying to do better.)
This year I’ve recruited some experts to help me figure out how to keep my lawn and garden looking perky without being a water hog. Nancy Scott, a conservation manager, said the first thing to do is to break the watering habit.
“Water when plants are giving you an indication,” she said, “as opposed to because it’s a certain day of the week.”
And don’t react to afternoon drooping, she said. Plants, like people, sometimes wilt in the late-afternoon heat but revive overnight if left to their own devices. If plants still look limp in the morning, give them a drink. Watering in the morning is much better than the afternoon; there’s less evaporation and less runoff due to heat-baked surfaces.
Also, take any rainfall fully into account. Scott’s advice: If it rained yesterday, you don’t need to water today, no matter how hot it gets.
Chelsey Wasem, horticulture agent for K-State Research and Extension, says with all the rainfall we’ve had this spring, there’s no need to start watering lawns until early July. As with bedding plants, wait until your grass tells you it needs a drink, Wasem says. Signs of thirst include a bluish-gray tint to the grass or footprints that remain after you walk on it.
The adage about watering lawns deeply and infrequently still holds. Wasem says to water gently at a rate the soil can absorb with no runoff. Instead of using a rain gauge to measure how much you’ve watered, use a screwdriver to check how deep the water has soaked in. The shaft will easily penetrate the soil down to where it is dry. Water to a depth of 6 to 8 inches.
For backyard vegetable gardens, hand watering is best because different plants have such different water needs. Tomatoes and zinnias, for example, need only an occasional deep watering. But lettuce and beans, with their shallower roots, are grateful for frequent mini-drinks.
By following these guidelines, I hope to slow the flow at the outdoor taps while keeping my yard and garden just this side of crisp.