How much water your yard uses depends on the kind of plants that are planted in it. If you’re remodeling your yard or just starting out with gardening, here are the plants that use the least water.
- Established or slow-growing plants
- Smaller plants
- Varieties with small or narrow leaves
- Gray or silver foliage
- Leathery, hairy or fuzzy foliage
Avoid plants that have greater water needs, such as those with the following:
- Those with higher fertilizer needs
- Plants with broad leaves
- Newly planted vegetation
- Fast-growing plants
Use mulch to save water
A lot of water can be lost from your plants as it evaporates before it can be properly soaked into the soil. A good way to stop this is to buy mulch and spread it around your plants.
When those plants are then watered, the mulch will hold that water and allow it time to get into the soil, rather than losing it to the atmosphere.
The best mulch to use for DIY water-wise gardening is a coarse one. It will allow the water to move through to the soil, unlike a fine mulch that traps the water. A bark chip mulch is one of the best ones for saving water.
