Each year a tenth of the world’s land area experiences “extremely hot weather.” And this puts a harsh demand on water use. Here are some ways to either cut down on water use or harvest rain water to use as irrigation.
- Use your own roof to harvest water into downspouts and direct into a cistern or collecting tank. You can use this water over time to irrigate planting areas
- Plant potassium silica’s and mycorrhiza to help spur root growth and soil to allow a plant to thrive
- Use low-volume drip irrigation to water the root source of the plant as opposed to uniformly watering large areas where plants may not be
- Move focus away from turf grass areas (in most climates) and create landscape areas that thrive on drip irrigation
- Pick plants native to the landscape as these plants have been accustomed to that climate’s rainwater amounts
- More planting projects in cities to combat the urban heat island effect as well as for green roofs to lower the AC load of buildings
- A small benefit of solar on roofs is that they shade the roof under them, reducing the need for cooling, besides the obvious reduction in CO2 emissions
There are other techniques, but these are a few Lifescape is using to work with our changing climate and conditions. Contact a designer at Lifescape for ideas on cutting down on water use and harvesting water in your landscape. 303-831-8310