![ItsAboutThyme_logo[1] by you.](https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2453/3680390926_a47790c3da.jpg?v=0)
It's About Thyme tel: 512-280-1192 May 20, 2011
Nursery Notes: 25% of all hanging baskets - this weekend only!
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Rainwater Harvesting 101, free lecture this Sun., 2 p.m. Presented by
Scott Stewart (Horizon Distributors). Learn how to collect and store rainwater,
saving money on water bills. Also - how to apply to the City of Austin for a
rain barrel rebate, and learn how this fresh water will make your plants flourish
like never before! (May 22)
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Reminder: Worm Bin compost workshop next Sun, 2 p.m. with
expert Cassandra Truax at 2 p.m. ($45 per student). Call 280-1192 to
reserve a space. (May 29. class limit: 25 students)
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Boxwood vs Deer: a gardener responds to the threat of deer by
making boxwood a feature of her landscape - by Anne Raver in
The New York Times: boxwood
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This week on KLRU's Central Texas Gardener, 'bright ideas for shady
spots,' from Mae Sanchez (Barton Springs Nursery); and a visit with Green
Garden award winners Sherry Cordry and Paul Mair. Saturday, noon and
The Case for Drip Irrigation
by Chris Winslow
Despite recent rain, we remain in serious drought conditions and are
probably heading for another summer heat wave. At times like this,
my thoughts turn to water.
When I'm not imagining myself immersed in a lovely spring-fed water
hole, I am thinking of ways to keep all of my lovely plants alive.As
gardeners, we must try our hardest to conserve as much of our precious
water as possible for our parched landscapes.
Drip irrigation, without question, is the best way to accomplish this. The
traditional approach had been to use hoses and sprinklers. Then along
came the high-tech underground water systems with their fancy automatic
timers and pop-up sprinklers and rotors.
All of these simply throw water up in the air, in the hope that some of it
might benefit the turf, flowerbeds and plants that it lands on. Drip irrigation,
however, is a focused technique that supplies the right amount of water
directly to the plant’s base.
Plants love it, and will demonstrate their gratitude by flourishing through
the hot summer months. To set up a drip system, connect a soft poly pipe
to your water faucet, and run the pipe along the soil surface. You then
simply punch ‘emitters’ into this pipe at the base of each plant.
Gardeners often use mulch to cover the pipe and emitters to further conserve
moisture. Here are some other benefits of drip irrigation:
1. You save water (and therefore money) since there is no evaporative loss
to the air. It all goes directly to the plants.
2. Water is added to the soil slowly. This reduces and often eliminates water
loss due to run off.
3. Weeds don’t get watered as much.
4. Plant diseases, like powdery mildew, are kept at a minimum because
foliage is kept dry.
5. Water can be tailored to individual plant needs. Water loving plants can
be given more by adding extra emitters, while xeriscape plants can be
less.
6. Best of all, drip irrigation is easy to install for both existing flower beds and
vegetable gardens. Often there is no trenching and existing automatic systems
can be adapted easily.
When we combine drip irrigation with native and adaptive plant species, we
can then all make the very best use of water… our most precious resource.
Happy Gardening everyone!
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