Water-Wise Gardening Tips for Saving Water and Saving Money on Your Water Bill - Pennsylvania

1. Water-Wise Gardening Tips For
Saving Water and Saving Money
On Your Water Bill
Landscaping with low-water use, drought-tolerant plants can conserve water. Drought-
resistant and low-water plants (other than cactus) include: Black Eyed Susan, Lavender,
Mount Atlas Daisy (groundcover), Lamb’s Ears, Oriental Poppy, Yarrow, Purple
Coneflower (Echinacea), Dusty Miller, Indian Paintbrush (Celosia), Spirea, and
Columbine.
Weeds compete with other plants for water. You can conserve water by controlling
weeds.
Pruning strengthens plants and makes them less water-dependent.
By composting garbage instead of using water with the garbage disposal, you can save
water and improve your soil quality.
Installing a drip irrigation system can save you 60 percent of the water that you currently
use in the yard.
Watering plants in the early morning or evening can maximize water penetration and
minimize evaporation. If you water plants infrequently, but slowly and deeply each time,
you will be helping to encourage roots to grow deep where the ground is moist for longer
periods of time. Doing this is more effective than watering lightly and frequently.
If you group plants according to their water needs, you can avoid over watering an entire
area for the sake of one or a few plants. If you place higher-water demand plants at the
bottom of a slope, and lower-water-demand plants at the top, you will be able to take
advantage of water that trickles down.
If you water container plants over tree roots, the tree will benefit from the container
runoff. Also, by building basins around shrubs and trees to avoid runoff, you can
conserve water.
By watching the weather, you can avoid watering your garden if rain is likely.
Office of Consumer Advocate
555 Walnut Street, 5th Floor, Forum Place, Harrisburg, PA 17101
1-800-684-6560 or e-mail consumer@paoca.org
www.oca.state.pa.us
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