Sally Scalera

Brevard County Horticulture Extension Agent
3695 Lake Drive -- Cocoa FL 32926 -- 321-633-1702

Some ideas on cutting down
on watering needs in your yard

Feb. 9, 2008

Recently, some areas of Brevard have been receiving rain and it is a wonderful thing. Sadly, we don’t always receive rain, so it's good to conserve water since we can’t take the rain for granted. There are a number of things that we can do in our landscapes to help conserve or even collect water and here are some ideas that you may not have tried.

Once of the easiest ways to cut down on watering needs is to add more native plants to your landscape. Native plants are great because they are adapted to our sandy, poor soils. There is a variety of ground covers (beach morning glory, gopher apple, ), perennials, shrubs (oakleaf hydrangea, rusty lyonia, necklace pod), trees and vines that you could plant in your landscape to add beauty. Once established, native plants rarely require any supplemental water to keep them alive.

In addition to native plants, there are a number of drought-tolerant plants that come from other areas of the world that also have poor sandy soils and scarce rain. Some of those plants that come to mind are aloe, cosmos, thyme, rosemary, natal plum, bougainvillea - what a perfect plant since it blooms better with neglect – no water or fertilizer!

If you have a number of plants that are not native to Florida, then you can help them out by enriching the soil with organic matter. Organic matter is the main thing that our “soil” is missing here in Florida. Sandy soil has fantastic drainage (sometimes the drainage is too good) and wonderful nutrient potential, but that's about it. The addition of organic matter improves the water holding capacity of the sand as well as the nutrient holding capacity. Organic matter is also the food source for the microorganisms, which live in the soil and help to release nutrients for the plants and protect the plants from harmful pathogens and pests. If you have hibiscus, ixora or gardenias, just to name a few non-natives, add some organic matter around the base of the plants like you would mulch. Over time the organic matter will work its way down into the soil. There are a number of different types of organic matter that you can use like compost, coffee grounds, tea bags, coffee filters, aged manures, etc.

Many people already mulch their plants and that is a great thing because not only does it help to keep the soil moist, but it also suppresses weeds (if it is thick enough) and reduces the spread of some soil-borne diseases like bacterial leaf spot withtomatoes. If you don’t have all of your plants mulched, then that is a great project to do this weekend.

Even citrus trees benefit from mulch; just make sure that you keep the mulch 6-12 inches away from the trunk of the tree. Clear out all of the grass underneath the branches all the way out to the dripline. Mulch the entire area with a chipped mulch like pine bark nuggets, melaleuca or eucalyptus.

We don’t recommend using cypress mulch because it is not a by-product of the lumber industry. Other good mulches are brown leaves, grass clippings (as long as they haven’t been sprayed with pesticides) or pine needles. Those last three mentioned are great mulches because they will also promote an increase in earthworm activity. For mulch to help conserve water and suppress weeds it needs to be maintained at a depth of 3 to 4 inches deep.

In the event of a drought, hopefully not this year since we just got out of a drought last year, there is something else that you can do to help your plants handle the harsh weather conditions. Spray the foliage of your favorite plants with a liquid seaweed product like Maxicrop. Liquid seaweed has all of the minor elements that plants need plus growth hormones.

Maxicrop was researched and found to help plants through stresses like flood, drought and cold as well as the good stress of producing fruit. During periods of drought, spray liquid seaweed on the foliage, both sides until it drips, on a regular basis. Maxicrop doesn’t have a fishy odor but any liquid seaweed will do the trick.

The last idea for conserving water is to collect rain water. Rain barrels are a great way to collect water because they can be connected to the downspout of your gutter. If your house doesn’t have a gutter system, then the rain barrel can have the lid cut off and screening placed over the top to collect water that rushes from the roof or even just left out in the yard to collect rainwater. Rain barrels have spigots at the base so that watering cans can be filled up or a hose can be attached for watering other plants. Another idea is to just use garbage cans. When rain is forecasted just remove the lid and collect the rain. To use the water you just have to dip it out or submerge a watering can in it until it fills up.

So, if there are some things mentioned in this article that you aren’t doing, start now. Add a few new natives to your yard this spring or start collecting rain water. Since our need for water will never decrease, the more water we can save today will pay off in the future!