Irrigation system needs for a landscape can run up your utility bill for water unless you use a well for lawn irrigation. Everyone wants to save money and be environmentally friendly when caring for our lawns and gardens. Here are some tips for making your lawn irrigation as friendly to the Earth as possible.

If you already have a lawn irrigation system in place, you’ll want to use it in an environmentally friendly manner. This means that you will want to avoid irrigating between noon and 6 p.m. when much of the water applied to the landscape will evaporate in the heat of the day. A well-kept lawn needs only about one inch of water per week total, so keep track of how much water nature supplies, adding only the lawn irrigation absolutely necessary to maintain a lush landscape. When you do irrigate, apply water long enough that the water goes deep into the soil. An irrigation system that is allowed to water only a short time every day prevents the grass from forming deep root systems, resulting in weeds and other landscaping problems. Lawns with deep root systems are drought resistant, allowing you to use your irrigation system as little as possible.

If you have an automatic lawn irrigation system, check into adding moisture sensors so that the system only operates when the irrigation is really needed. A rain and moisture sensor system is more of an investment than a simple sprinkler system timer, but it pays for itself in the long run with water saved. You can find smart lawn irrigation system controllers at lawn and garden center or hardware stores.

Low Volume Drip Irrigation

If you do not have an irrigation system existing, consider using low volume drip irrigation and irrigation for targeted areas only. Drip hoses and soaker irrigation systems are inexpensive compared to many more sophisticated types of irrigation but can be just as effective and provide the same results but in a more environmentally friendly manner.  

Maximize the water which is applied to your landscape through your irrigation system by aerating the soil regularly. You can also help the aeration by adding a light top dressing of added leaf compost to add aerated organic matter to the landscape. Raise your mower blades to 2 1/2 or 3 inches to allow the roots to grow deeper and less moisture to be lost to evaporation. The shorter you cut the grass, the more likely it is to be damaged by disease, attacked by weeds, and turn brown during a drought.

Collect Rainwater In Barrels

There is no need to use any type of irrigation system for small flower beds. Instead, allow rainwater to collect in barrels and use it to water flower beds and potted plants. The plants respond well to natural rainwater because of the lack of added chemicals which are present in most tap water.

It is easy to use an irrigation system with the environment in mind. It doesn’t require much effort, only a little planning and it will help save resources as well as money.

Power tools are a key part of your garden lawn equipment. They make your gardening and landscaping projects easy to develop and maintenance easy to perform, saving many hours of labor. By choosing the right power tools, you’ll have much more time to enjoy the luxury of sitting back and enjoying your garden landscape.

Not every gardener will need every one of the available power tools. You only need to buy the ones which work for your specific landscape. For example, if you have lots of hedges which you must trim regularly, you’ll want a power hedge trimming tool. But if you only have one or two shrubs, the expense of a power tool for topping and trimming a few shrubs is simple not necessary since you can easily prune and trim with a hand tool rather than a more expensive piece of garden lawn equipment. Instead, choose the items that you really need and buy quality equipment for your lawn and gardening work.

Just about everyone must have a lawn more in their garden lawn equipment collection. If you have a small lawn, a simple gasoline-powered push lawn mower, with or without a bagger depending on your preferences, is all you need. If you have a very tiny lawn, you might consider an electric-powered push mower but always be cautious not to run over the power cord if you do select an electric lawn mower. If you have a medium or large lawn with sizeable areas of open turf, a riding lawn mower is a wise investment for you. A riding lawn mower is one power tool that anyone who has a big landscape to maintain will find can really cut down on time and energy used in making your landscape look great.

Another power tool that everyone needs is a power edger. Unless your lawn is absolutely microscopic, this inexpensive power tool will really pay off by providing an easy way to create professional-looking edges along sidewalks, driveways, along the edge of the house, around trees and under shrubs. For small lawns, you can select an electric garden lawn equipment choice for edging but larger landscapes require a gas-powered edger. Choose a model that is easy to grip and control and has an easy-to-load edging filament. It should also have a good safety guard around the rotating edging filament so that feet and legs are not injured.

A leaf blower is another piece of garden lawn equipment that pays off big in making landscape maintenance easy. After cutting the lawn with any type of lawn mower, there will be debris such as dust, dirt and grass clippings on areas on which you do not want them to remain such as sidewalks, verandas, driveways, and other areas around the home. By using an electric or gas-powered leaf blower, you can blow away this debris. When leaves fall in autumn, you can blow the leaves into a pile to minimize the need for manual raking. Many leaf blowers can double as snow blowers in wintertime.

Make your garden lawn equipment investment pay off by choosing a small collection of the best power tools you can afford. A few garden and landscape enthusiasts may require more power tools, such as a chain saw, but for most gardeners the power tools above will be all you really need to keep your garden and entire landscape gorgeous and the envy of your neighbors.

A garden hose is a garden hose, right? Wrong! Lawn irrigation and gardening requires you have a good water hose and you don’t want to just grab the first one you see at the store. Instead, take into consideration a few things about your specific needs and the ease of use and durability of the water hose before you buy.

Cheap garden hoses are hard to handle, kink easily, simply refuse to coil and are certain to leak after only a short period of use. You may be able to use the hose for one or two seasons of lawn irrigation, but it won’t hold up for years. It is far better to invest in a quality garden hose that will last and last with proper care.

First, consider the length that is right for you before choosing a garden hose. You can easily find hoses in lengths from 25 feet to over 100 feet. Determine the length from the water spigot to the farthest area to which you regularly apply lawn irrigation with a garden hose. That should be the length you select. If you require a longer hose only on rare occasions, you can purchase a second short hose which can be coupled to your primary garden hose for those rare occasions when you need to reach the farthest corner of your properly.

Consider the best diameter for your garden hose. The larger the diameter, the more water the hose will deliver in the same period of time. Sizes from 3/8 inch to one inch are commonly available. Most home landscape enthusiasts find the 5/8 inch size to be the best for their gardening needs.

The material from which your garden hose is produced makes a big difference as well. Rubber, vinyl and PVC are commonly used in hoses. Quality lawn irrigation equipment uses a number of layers of reinforcement made from nylon or rayon between layers of rubber, vinyl or PVC to make the garden hose as strong as possible. PVC garden hoses weigh less than those of other materials, which can be a big advantage if you require a long hose which must be moved frequently. PVC which is reinforced with rubber combines light weight with more durability.

Garden hose fittings are also very important to the life-span of lawn irrigation equipment. Fittings and couplings should be made of thick brass with hexagonal swivels rather than round swivels. A quality garden hose also has a protective collar below the coupling to prevent kinks at the coupling or spigot connection.

If you like to take a drink from your garden hose, you want to select one that is marked “potable”. This means that the water coming through the hose will taste like tap water rather than rubber. This isn’t necessarily better for watering; it is only a point to consider if you do like to stop for a drink from the garden hose or if you children like to grab the hose for a drink.

You may also want to buy garden hoses which are made for special lawn irrigation purposes such as soaker hoses. These have small holes allowing water to seep out slowly to soak the soil and are meant to be left in place for hours or days at a time. Use the same quality considerations when buying specialty lawn irrigation hoses as for your primary garden hose.

After you purchase a garden hose, you must care for it properly or even the finest product will not last for years to come. After turning off the water spigot, allow your garden hose to drain all the water out. When you are not using your garden hose, coil it up neatly or use a hose stand which has a coiler to roll the hose without kinks. When you store your lawn irrigation equipment at season’s end, place it where it will not be exposed to freezing temperatures.

Use these helpful guidelines when buying a garden  hose or lawn irrigation hoses. This way your investment will pay off with years of use before you must replace your watering equipment

Everyone’s garden tool box should contain the items needed to do gardening and landscaping hand work with top-quality items. There are a few critical hand tools you’ll want to have in your box of garden tools so your work in the garden will be easier and more pleasant.

Ideally, you want to purchase your garden tool box after purchasing the items with which you wish to stock the tool box. That way you can be certain you buy a tool box that is large enough to hold your necessary equipment. You can easily locate garden tool boxes which also act as stools so that you can be comfortable while performing your tasks. These are usually durable, sturdy rubber-like compounds which are built to support an adult, even of above-average weight, for long periods of time. Of course, any type of garden tool box will work if you do not like the idea of a stool type tool box.

Arranging Your Garden Tool Box

Inside your tool box, you’ll want to have all your garden hand tools. You may think this means you’ll need to have a plethora of tools in order to garden successfully. This is not true at all. You really only need a few key garden tools in your tool box to take care of all those small tasks which do not require heavy, long-handled tools.

You’ll want to include in your garden [tool box]tools for pruning and cutting, digging, breaking up soil, planting, and removing weeds from your landscape. Many garden tools are multi-purpose in nature so you have no need to buy a specific tool for every single task, even though specialty tools may be available. Instead, buy a top-quality basic garden tool set for your garden tool box rather than stocking a bunch of specialty tools of lesser quality. You’ll find it pays off in the long run.

A hand trowel is an absolute necessity. It can be used for planting small plants, placing bulbs in the soil, and digging small holes. You want to choose a garden trowel that has a short, sturdy ergonomic handle attached to a curved or cupped metal trowel blade. You may want to select on that has a narrow blade and another with a wide blade to fit different tasks. The narrow blade trowel is best for bulbs and removing weeds while the wider blade is perfect for larger tasks.

A good garden tool box should also contain a strong, sturdy garden fork. This type of tool has four tines which point down from the handle at a 90-degree angle. The garden fork is perfect for working compost into small areas, adding fertilizer in small plots of soil, breaking soil for aeration, and removing grass from the flower bed. Choose a garden fork with a strong, ergonomic handle.

A short-handled hand hoe is another key tool for your garden tool box. It should have a square, straight edged blade on a sturdy handle which feels comfortable in your hand. Use it for breaking clumps of dirt and the corner of the blade is great for digging up weeds.
A quality hand pruning tool is also needed. Hand pruning shears should have one strong, curved steel blade and a sharp straight blade. The curved blade holds the branch or plant while the sharp edge does the work when the handles are pressed together. Select quality steel hand pruning shears with rubber or composite covered handles for comfort. Grips which are textured offer the most comfort for many gardeners.

A sharp knife, either straight or folding, should be in your garden tool box. This tool box item can be used for removing buds, deadheading, and for cutting holes in weed barrier material for planting. It’s also handy for opening bags of soil or other items. You just can’t have a complete tool box for gardening without a good sharp knife of quality steel. You’ll also want to place a honing stone in your tool box so you can keep the knife sharp without having to go into the house to sharpen it.

As you can easily see, building a basic garden tool boxdoes not require buying tons of different tools. Of course, you may want to add an item here and there over the seasons, but the basics are really all you need in your tool box to grow a beautiful, lush garden and care for your landscape.