Water, Water Everywhere... or Nowhere.

One thing I seem to have struggled with the past two years is drought. The first year I had my garden bed I vowed to keep up with harvesting, weeding, pruning, and watering. The harvesting was simple of course, and the weeding wasn't so bad (I've since learned to actually love it). I don't have any confidence in pruning (or thinning for that matter) and thus just... didn't do it. Not a huge deal, but not very good for my garden. But......

Perhaps the worst thing for my garden in 2010 was the lack of rain we had. And I certainly didn't help matters when I neglected to water my garden after the first few weeks. I always seem to forget or to think it actually might rain, and most of all I hope that whatever amount I do end up having to water doesn't affect my water bill. I tend to water it maybe once every few days, and little by little that turns out not to be enough. I've seen some garden's that have special watering systems and I've become really interested in them. I would love to have something that takes minimal effort, doesn't cost much (in implementation or in water) and is easy to use, especially for someone as forgetful as me. So, I checked out a couple different irrigation techniques on YouTube:


This type of system would be best for a small, raised bed, though it could probably be tweaked to work for a ground-level garden. This might be a fairly inexpensive way to water my raised bed.


This video talks about a drip system and also about soaker hoses and using timers. I like the idea of using a timer, since I'm so forgetful. It also looks like it would conserve water fairly well.


I stumbled across this while I was YouTubing... it doesn't talk about garden irrigation, but does demonstrate how to construct a rain barrel. If my ultimate goal was to conserve water and not have to spend much on my water bill this would be fantastic. I would still have to depend on rain, which isn't always reliable here.

I think I'm leaning toward the drip irrigation system or a soaker hose with a timer. It seems to fit my goals best. It will sure beat filling up my water bucket several times, or pulling out the hose and having to reroll  it every evening, and it will also be great on those days when I conveniently forget watering altogether. What type of irrigation system do you use? What are your watering goals? Do you just want your garden or lawn watered, or do you struggle with a high water bill or water conservation also? How do you fight droughts?