Easy Watering: The Biggest Game Changer in my Garden’s Success
Easy Watering: If there’s one thing I could offer any beginning gardener, it’s to figure this out straight away! This blog post features my favorite ways to let watering be easy, including many methods like hand watering, sprinklers, timers, soakers, and my favorite, automated irrigation.
There is one thing I’ve done for my garden above all else that has had the greatest impact—the biggest game changer in my garden’s success. And it’s all about easy watering and being lazy.
Let’s be real, with as busy and challenging as our times are, the only way to really ensure things get done, is to let them be easy.
The number one reason why gardens fail is because they get stressful, overwhelming, and then, eventually, they fail. And then beginning gardeners make an even worse mistake, they see themselves as failures, and they give up.
In reality, though, they just didn’t have a plan for easy watering. Making your watering plan easy is the best way to be sure your garden grows and thrives.
But it is not exciting, it is not sexy, it’s not pretty. In fact, it’s pretty boring. But it is the foundation to keeping your garden strong, so let’s do it! And let’s make it easy, too.
Watering Methods
First let’s discuss our options here. There are many different ways to water a garden.
Handwatering
If you have a very small garden, or some small areas that get missed, this can be a good option, and I truly believe everyone should have a watering can—sometimes you just don’t wanna drag that hose everywhere! It’s very convenient for little, quick gardening jobs. Here are a few favorite watering cans supplies in my Amazon Shop.
Hose Watering
To maintain easy watering, you need to have the proper tools. Most gardener’s will need at least one good garden hose. I like to get long ones for more flexibility and ease of use, but if you have a smaller space, you can save some money by buying a shorter hose. There are a few hoses and watering wands in my Amazon Shop.
Watering Wands
You never want to water plants with just a hose, though. You need a watering wand at the end for easy watering and a more gentle stream, so your plants aren’t damaged. There are all kinds of watering wands: Long, short, simple, and fancy. While simple wands are absolutely fine, it’s also nice to have options for different settings, especially if you start your own seeds, as the gentle settings protect the seeds from being damaged. My favorite simple and fancy watering wands are in my Amazon Shop.
Easy Watering
When you rely on hand watering, though, whether through hoses or watering cans, there is just a lot that can go sideways on you. Maybe you’re busy, or sick, on vacation, or just not feeling it. On all of those days, your garden will most likely get missed. Even if you love it with all parts of you, even if you have the best intentions, these days can add up and have a negative effect on your garden.
And this is where the easy gardening comes in! Whenever we want to start a new habit, or positive change, we need to make it as easy as possible, either by keeping it in our face, or having it be automatic and under the radar, so we don’t even have to think about it.
So let’s pop over to my favorite watering method: Easy Watering.
Sprinklers
The most basic form of easy watering is our old friend, the sprinkler. Many of us (especially those of us of a certain age) spent our summers running through them, but they are of course meant for plants.
Sprinklers offer a lot of benefit, but also have some challenges.
Pros of Sprinklers:
- Easy to use
- Even watering
- Saves time and energy
Challenges of Sprinklers:
- Hard to control where the water goes
- Limited coverage
- Can overwater or underwater certain areas
- Waters the foliage instead of just the roots, which may cause disease and damage
While sprinklers have their drawbacks, they can also save a lot of time and energy. So they definitely have their place in gardens, and you can see the ones I recommend in my Amazon Shop.
Soaker Hoses
But if we want to make even more easy watering, soaker hoses are the way to go. These have the ease and automaticity of sprinklers, but are more out of the way, and can be placed more accurately, so they are more efficient. Have you ever used soaker hoses? If you’d like to learn more about soaker hoses, check out my Amazon Shop.
Timers
You can take your sprinklers and soaker hoses to the next level of easy watering with timers. Timers take these watering methods to a better place because they automate your watering. This means you can free up your time and energy by setting the timer for when you’d like to water, and be completely hands off. This means you can be sick, on vacation, out with friends, or even just lazy, and your garden won’t suffer at all. Pure magic. You can find timers in my Amazon Shop.
Automation
Automating things—making your garden work smart, not hard—is a true game changer. With much less effort, you can get much more success. So, how do you do this? Automated Irrigation!Â
Irrigation
We’ve talked about lots of different methods of watering and how they can benefit your garden, and make success for you as a gardener.
But this post is about EASY watering, and the ultimate easy watering is irrigation!
This single handedly revolutionized my garden. Besides the freedom and flexibility to go out of town and have more free time, my plants have done so much better with a more thorough and consistent watering schedule.
It used to take me over an hour a day to water my garden. Now I not only save time, but the sprinklers and soaker hoses of irrigation also water my plants much better, and with much more efficiency, than I was able to do with just my hose.
Because the plants are now healthier to start with, diseases and bugs are less of an issue, too. Also, my harvests are much more abundant. Not to mention it saves money! The simple truth is, automated gardening, in many instances, waters better than we can by hand.
All this and more is the reason why automated irrigation is my pick for the best easy watering method.
Types of Irrigation
There are lots of different types of irrigation you can choose from. On our property we use two different types.
- Sprinklers: These are great for watering large blocks of space like grass, trees, and shrubs.
- Soaker Hoses: These are fabulous for smaller and harder to reach areas. They are also very good for watering from the bottom, which keeps the foliage dry, and helps keep disease to a minimum. These are what I use for my raised beds, where I grow most of my herbs and veggies.
What to Do
Even though my husband has a lot of experience with irrigation, we still hired a professional in our neighborhood for this. Digging all the trenches is a ton of work, and there’s a lot of precision involved when it comes to the sprinkler heads hitting exactly where you need them to. For us, getting an expert was the best choice. If you would like to DIY it, by all means, do! This option just worked best for us.
If you’d like a pro’s help for the process of irrigation, look for trusted companies in your area.
Irrigation Timers
The most important thing to do, in my opinion, is to make sure to have a timer installed, as well. This is where the true magic of automating your watering comes in. When the weather starts to get nice, we just set it to go off every morning. (Make sure to do this at a different time than your morning showers or chores, so your water supply is not taxed all at once). You can also adjust it to water more or less, take a day off, etc.
Final Verdict
I can truly say my garden improved exponentially when we added this feature. The investment is so worth it. If I’m not feeling well, on vacation, or just being lazy, my garden will not even notice, and will no longer be impacted.
If you can afford to do one big splurge in your garden, I would recommend this one! This has definitely been the biggest game changer in my garden’s success!
Which types of watering work best for you?
Make The Right Easy Watering Plan For You
This post has shown many different easy watering methods, but it’s important to find the best one for you. If you want to explore more about finding your perfect watering method, check out my Beginning Gardener’s Toolbox to make a step by step plan, and learn more about creating your perfect garden space, including, tools, pests, soil, and more!
For more on gardening, check out these helpful posts:
- New Year, New Backyard Vegetable Garden
- A Gardener’s Guide To Winter
- How To Plant Garlic
- Gardening in Small Spaces
- 10 Essential Things to Do Before You Plan Your Garden
- Top 3 Easy to Grow Vegetables
- Weird Tip For Keeping Slugs Out Of Your Garden
- What is Urban Homesteading?
- How to Harvest & Dry Your Own Herbs
- How to Make Your Own Cayenne Pepper Powder
- Make your own Vegetable Stock for Free
Do you have an Urban Homestead?
An urban homestead is a thriving garden in the city where you produce your own food to cook and preserve. This is my favorite place to learn how if you’re ready to start your own thriving urban homestead!
Come Say Hey!
In summary, I would love to get to know you more and see your garden (or your dreams of one)! Come say hi and join our communities below.
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I would love this! I fill a barrel from a hose hooked up to a pump pulling water from a stream, then hand water. It takes awhile and the barrel requires refilling often.
Oh, man, those plants are getting some excellent water! And you must be exhausted! 😂 Irrigation saved my garden, I found it difficult to even hose water each day, let alone gather barrels of water from the creek—-that is impressive!! Your plants are lucky to have you!