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With a heat wave still dominating much of the United States, your garden and/or flowers probably look a lot like mine.
I water them in the morning, and by the evening they appear as if they’ve been devoid of water for days.
How do you stay on top of watering your garden and flower beds in such intense heat?
How about outfitting your gardens with an easy-to-make DIY self-watering system?
Drip Irrigation Methods
DIY Idea #1: One way to allow your garden to water itself is to install a drip irrigation system.
It can save you time, money, minimize erosion, reduce the amount of water needed to soak plants, and oh so much more.
The downside to drip irrigation is that it can be relatively expensive to set up. But thanks to Lifehacker, we’ve discovered a method to install drip irrigation on the cheap.
DIY Idea #2: If you want to go all out and rig up a larger scale automated drip irrigation system, Lifehacker has some good information on how to do that well… but it’s going to set you back about $150.
DIY Idea #3: If automated drip irrigation sounds appealing to you, I found a complete 22 plant auto drip irrigation system from SprinklerWarehouse.com for $59. Maybe it will work just as well as the more expensive version above.
Other Creative Self-Watering Methods
DIY Idea #4: If you’d rather not go the drip irrigation route, you could always harvest the condensation from your air conditioner in order to construct a self-watering system that could easily be retrofitted to your existing garden.
This system would basically water your garden with a small amount of water every time your air conditioning unit generated enough condensation — which is surprisingly often throughout a hot day.
DIY Idea #5: If you want to get all uber-geek in your garden, check out this Arduino powered, tweeting, self-watering garden system.
DIY Idea #6: Last but not least, you could build a self-watering garden out of plywood and empty 2 liter bottles.
This system wouldn’t be helpful if you wanted to retrofit your existing garden with a self-watering system, but if you’re just planting one it is a great idea!
What’s your favorite way to keep all your herbs, veggies, and flowers well hydrated through the hot summer months?
UPDATE: Here are 2 DIY self-watering plant ideas that are great to use when you’re on vacation: Make self-watering globes from glass bottles or plastic bottles!
I think every little step toward living green is an awesome one… but eco-snobbery sucks! My goal is to help newbies learn the most important steps toward living green — individually and collectively. Personally, I strive to have as little impact as possible on Planet Earth while I'm here.
