Waterwise Gardening in Central Australia
In Alice Springs about 65% of all potable water used by households is on the garden, and an estimated 80% of gardens are over watered !!!
Can you reduce the amount of water you use in the garden?
- Zone your plants according to water needs e.g. group your plants which need watering more often on a different irrigation line to those which only need watering once a week or occassionally – then you are not wasting water on plants which don’t need it.
- Follow the Arid Zone Watering Guide to make sure your garden and lawn are getting the right amount of water
- Adjust your irrigation schedule according to the season – turn it off or change the timing when there is rain or the weather cools down
- Regularly check your irrigation system for breaks and leaks and replace the washers in any dripping taps
- Use native or drought tolerant plants which use less water - local nurseries can provide advice on these
- Replace sprinklers with sub-surface dripper systems that water plant roots directly and save on water lost to evaporation.
- Use a tap timer to ensure sprinklers or drippers are not accidentally left running
- Mulch your plants
- Improve your soil by adding organic matter
- At the start of the hot weather add wetting agents to sandy soil, especially lawns, to improve water infiltration
- Use larger pots and put saucers underneath them in summer – this will make a big difference to how often they need to get watered
- Make your verge waterwise – get rid of unneccessary lawn
- Reduce your lawn area - replace unused lawn with water efficient plants, mulch, paving, sand or gravel
- Try planting lower water use native lawn varieties
- Harvest rainwater, stormwater and greywater for garden use
Arid Zone Watering Guide
Watering techniques for Central Australia can be quite different to those from wetter climates so check the Arid Zone watering guide (pdf 3.71Mb)
How to Create a Waterwise Garden in Central Australia
Published by Power and Water Corporation and the Nursery Gardens Industry Association of Australia.
Alice Springs Town Council - Local or native plants
Alice Springs Town Council has a list of recommended local or native plants for gardens.
Greening Australia publications:
Native Plants for Central Australian Gardens - Forth and Vintner, 2007.
A field guide to plants of the Barkly - Purdie, Materne and Bubb, 2008.
Gardens for Wildlife project, Alice Springs
Vegetation maps, lists of plants and soil types for your property
Other websites of interest:
Sustainable Gardening Australia
Although they're based in Victoria, their website still has some relevant information including on native lawns.
SA Water
South Australia's SA Water has some good publications on being waterwise in the garden.
Sydney Water Corporation
Sydney Water Corporation website has some good waterwise gardening pages.