7 Ways to Water Efficiently

How can you save water in your yard and keep your water bill in check? We’ve got some ideas to water your yard more efficiently this Earth Day (and every day)!

1. Mulch

Mulching your landscape is an easy and inexpensive way to save water and keep plants cool during the heat of the summer. Mulch is a layer of material (like wood chips, straw, or grass clippings) that’s added to the surface of your soil to provide protection for your soil and plants. A mulch layer reduces surface soil evaporation (where water leaves the soil before it can be accessed by the plant) and conserves soil moisture by providing a protective barrier between soil and drying elements like the air and sun.

You can spread mulch in flower beds, veggie gardens, and around trees and shrubs to help lock in moisture. Wood chips, bark chips, and straw are excellent sources of mulch, and dried grass clippings make a great budget-friendly alternative to store-bought mulches. Mulch should be applied on the surface, around plants, at an average depth of about 3-4 inches.

2. Switch to a smart sprinkler controller

Optimizing your sprinkler system can save a lot of water in your outdoor space; according to the EPA, up to 50% of water used outdoors is wasted due to inefficient irrigation systems. Switching from a regular sprinkler controller to a smart sprinkler controller like the Rachio 3 allows your sprinkler system to tailor watering schedules to suit your plants' particular needs and deliver the right amount of water (without over or under-watering). Smart controllers like the Rachio 3 track local weather data and automatically skip watering when it rains or when plants have enough water. By automatically adjusting to changes in seasonal weather patterns, they can quickly pay for themselves. A study by Stanford suggests some smart sprinkler controllers recover the cost of purchase within 6 months of installation and can save an amount of water compared to an average household's basic indoor water needs.

3. Check in on your sprinkler system

Make sure your system is maintained and functioning properly. This means looking out for leaks, fixing broken sprinkler heads, and maintaining other equipment. Learn how to care for your sprinkler system.

4. Choose the right plants for your climate & location

Selecting the right plants for your climate and your yard is a great strategy for conserving water. Shrubs, perennials and other ground covers typically require less water than turf grass.

In areas that are prone to drought (like the Western United States), it's a good idea to select plants that are at least somewhat drought tolerant or even drought resistant, as they’ll require less supplemental water to thrive. This can save you water and money, as much of the plant's water needs can be provided by nature (in the form of precipitation). Plants adapted to the native climate will also generally perform better in those conditions and will not need to be replaced as often, saving more money over time by minimizing replacement costs.

Your county extension office may be able to provide you with resources for plant selection in your area! Extension agents and volunteers will often assist with plant recommendations for specific areas and climates.

5. Water early

To decrease water loss from evaporation, always avoid watering during the heat of the day (especially in summer). Water early in the morning, with your schedules ending just before sunrise. If you’re watering with Rachio, you can control when you system waters automatically from the Rachio app.

6. Use the cycle & soak method

Sometimes when we use irrigation to water plants, water can be applied faster than the soil can absorb it. This can lead to pooling and even runoff, where the water applied for your plants runs off of the intended surfaces and actually leaves your yard before it can be used. Both yards with high clay soil content and yards with sloping landscapes can be especially prone to water runoff. To counter this, we suggest using a cycle and soak approach to irrigating. Rachio’s Smart Cycle feature is one way to automatically apply this proven watering practice to your yard by splitting up watering durations into multiple, short watering durations.

7. Install low-flow sprinkler heads

For even more water savings in your yard, consider installing low-volume, low-angle sprinkler heads and drip irrigation. These deliver water closer to plants' roots (where water is most needed) and avoid watering the plant's leaves and other foliage (where water is more likely to evaporate).