How do you know if your lawn needs watering? With water scarcity, there’s no question that you shouldn’t water your garden too often! But you still don’t want to end up with a yellow lawn? So
How do I know when to water it?
When I watched my neighbor Alain stick a screwdriver into his lawn, I came up with the solution. When I asked him why he was doing this, I was really surprised by his answer.
Why would you stick a screwdriver in the garden soil?
Sticking a screwdriver into the garden soil can sound really strange… But if you understand why, it’s not so stupid! The goal of a frugal gardener is to water the garden soil at the right time, right? Neither too often nor too little, otherwise all plants will die! In order not to be mistaken, old gardeners use a clever trick. This is the screwdriver test. This is a simple and effective trick to find out if the soil in the garden needs watering.
How do I do the screwdriver test?
Doing the screwdriver test is easy!
1.Take a sufficiently long screwdriver. Note: It doesn’t matter whether it is a flat head or Phillips screwdriver.
2. Stick it into the ground with your hand.
3. Can it be easily buried 15cm deep? Then you don’t need to water.
4. It doesn’t sink easily? This means that the earth is dry and needs water.
Result: You know whether you need to water your lawn or not!
And voilà, thanks to this simple trick you will know when to water easily and without mistakes. Simple, practical and effective! If the floor is hard, it will be difficult to push the screwdriver into it. It is compacted because it is not moist enough. So it lacks water and is not sufficiently ventilated. Therefore, it is necessary to intervene by irrigating it. On the other hand, is the floor soft and can the screwdriver be screwed in easily? Then that’s no problem! You can wait to water. Practical, isn’t it? If you don’t have a screwdriver handy, you can also use a large knife or spade.
How do you water your garden?
Attention: Just because the soil in the garden needs water doesn’t mean you can do everything. First, ask your city administration whether you are allowed to water at all. Depending on how dry it is in your community, there may be restrictions. Second, even if you are allowed to water, it is always better to use collected water. Remember to collect the rainwater as soon as it rains, the shower water, the water from cleaning vegetables, the water from the clothes dryer… You will save tons of water in the garden. And in the end, you’ll save a lot on your bill too!
How can I avoid watering too often?
Experienced gardeners have some effective tricks to avoid or delay the timing of watering.
– First of all, they recommend mowing the lawn high and not too often. This means that there should be at least three weeks between individual mowing processes. This means the lawn stores water better.
– The soil must then be well ventilated so that the rainwater can be absorbed by the lawn or turf. – Has the lawn or grass turned yellow? Do you know what smart gardeners do? You practice patience! They wait for the next rain or spring to