Smart Water Usage Tips for Your Garden
This article is part of an eight-part series providing accessible, place-based environmental education to help build climate resilience and encourage habitat stewardship in Shoreline. The series is funded by a grant from the City of Shoreline.
Water and precipitation are often top of mind for residents of western Washington…sometimes we want less rain (especially in Juneurary), sometimes we want more (in late August) and everybody wants to keep their water bill as low as possible. As climate change makes Pacific Northwest summers hotter and drier, many home and public gardens, like Kruckeberg, have been implementing new gardening approaches to reduce water consumption. Below are some tips to help you explore how to transition to lower, smarter water usage in the garden.
Install drought-tolerant plants in your garden
Head down to the lower portion of the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden to observe the Climate Resilience Garden (CRG), a living educational resource that illustrates how drought-tolerant plants can flourish in our region’s increasingly dry and warm conditions. Check out the interpretive signage designed to introduce visitors to the fundamentals of climate-resilient and climate-adaptive gardening techniques, including soil management and plant selection. Once completely established, many plants in the CRG will require little to no irrigation, even in summer’s hottest periods. And if you like what you see, our MsK Nursery sells a selection of these 30-plus native and adaptive exotic species.
If you have a classic PNW shady yard and think drought-tolerant plants won’t work in your landscape, don’t despair! Great Plant Picks, a hearty plant selection resource created by horticultural experts for maritime Northwest gardens, features a comprehensive guide to selecting the best bulbs, perennials, shrubs and trees for a range of conditions, including dry shade.
Mulch your garden beds at least once a year
Mulch comes in two categories: organic (straw, chopped leaves, arborist wood chips) and inorganic (gravel/stones, decorative glass, rubber) and we’ll focus on the organic types as they are more commonly used in the region. A healthy 3-4” layer of organic mulch performs many functions:
- helps soil retain moisture, requiring less irrigation
- gradually decomposes, releasing nutrients to soil and improving its structure and quality
- reduces erosion and pooling after a heavy rain event
- slows down weed growth
- protects plants against temperature extremes (in the same way that curtains help regulate temperatures in our homes)
Getting an annual delivery of arborist wood chips is a popular approach to mulching in the PNW. These wood chips come directly from local coniferous and hardwood trees that are chipped – often within the last 24 hours – by an arborist or tree company. Not only do they smell great, these chips aren’t processed or treated with dyes and their natural, woody appearance blends in well with many landscapes. Plus, using a local chip drop company is more environmentally friendly than buying processed, dyed mulch in plastic bags that have been transported hundreds of miles to a retail location.
You can get freshly made wood chips delivered to your home at no cost through ChipDrop. The company matches people who want free wood chip mulch with arborists and tree companies who need to dispose of them. The only trade-off for using ChipDrop is that you can’t select a specific time for delivery and you must be willing to accept a load up to 20 yards of mulch – but the wait in the Seattle area is often only a day or so. For those who prefer to specify a delivery window and/or delivery size, there are many local businesses that will deliver wood chips for a fee.
Kruckeberg is a heavy-duty user of ChipDrop. “We’ve had many, many truck loads of free wood chips delivered to the garden via ChipDrop over the years,” says Kruckeberg Executive Director JP Sauerlender. “The product is great, the service is reliable and it’s saved us thousands of dollars over the years. You can see the positive effects all over the garden.”
And here’s a pro tip from Kruckeberg’s staff: when installing wood chips in your landscape, scoop them with a pitchfork or bedding fork rather than a shovel. Your back will thank you.
Take advantage of city resources
The City of Shoreline’s Surface Water Utility department offers resources to help residents decrease water usage, better manage rainwater and protect the region’s water quality. The Soak It Up Rebate Program offers rebates, workshops, and one-on-one support to Shoreline residents, schools and businesses who want to install native plants and/or rain gardens on their property.
Once established, gardens rich with native plants tend to require less irrigation than those filled with non-native species. Rain gardens are primarily populated with native plants and are designed to let rainwater soak slowly into the ground rather than pooling or running off into stormdrains. The Soak It Up program grows in popularity every year, according to Shoreline’s Surface Water Program Specialist Christie Lovelace. Rebates up to $5600 are available to homeowners and up to $14,000 for businesses and organizations. To learn more about the application process and this year’s deadline, go online or contact Lovelace at 206.801.2420.
One step at a time!
Adjusting how you garden to accommodate a changing climate can be intimidating at first. Keep in mind that you can launch your transition gradually, one new step at a time. For example, if you usually have a summer garden bed filled with thirsty non-native annuals, try planting a handful of low-water or drought-tolerant plants like Douglas aster, yarrow or Oregon sunshine instead in the next growing season. Our MsK Nursery usually has these and other options in stock, so it’s an excellent place to explore potential options. Kruckeberg staff can answer questions about which plants would work well in your garden conditions and how to care for them.
Got questions?
Need more info? Below are some additional resources that will boost your know-how and confidence as you launch your journey toward lower water use in the garden.