Eco-Friendly Tips for Maintaining a Beautiful Lawn While Conserving Water

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Guest blogger Lisa Walker offers tips on keeping a healthy lawn AND conserving water.

A beautiful garden adds aesthetic appeal to your property, ensuring your outdoor space is just as pleasant to spend time in as your indoor space. Maintaining a lush lawn requires water. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, landscape irrigation accounts for about one-third of total residential water usage. In some areas, this has created problems in times of drought. For example, the state of California had to institute limits on outdoor water use during recent dry seasons.

Keepers of the Waters is dedicated to educating homeowners on how they can maintain lush landscapes while saving valuable water resources. Read on for some actionable tips.

Select drought-tolerant plants

The first step to minimizing needless water usage is to select your plants, trees, and flowers accordingly. Eden Project provides tips on drought-tolerant plants that will create a visually appealing garden without requiring large amounts of water. Examples include mescal agave, striped-stemmed aloe, Jerusalem sage, and palms. Want more color in your garden? Consider the rock rose or cape daisy for added vibrancy. Consult a local gardening center on what plants will work best in your climate.

Add more mulch

Mulch nourishes a healthy garden in many ways. In winter, it helps to add insulation against the cold, keeping plant roots warm. In summer, it protects against the sun, preventing it from leaching moisture out of the soil. Mulch also safeguards against evaporation by trapping water underneath it, keeping it where thirsty plant roots can get to it. Fine Gardening provides a guide to different mulch options, including shredded or chipped bark, pine straw, leaf mold, and cocoa-bean hulls.

Create a rain garden

A rain garden is a unique landscaping element that consists of a round, shallow indentation in the earth. When it rains, water collects here naturally. The Rain Garden Network explains that you can place deep-rooted plants here, which will gradually soak up the accumulated moisture as it trickles through the upper layers of the earth to greater depths. Prairie grasses are ideal. The rain garden should have a runoff source like a sump pump outlet or downspout to avoid flooding and standing water, which can accumulate mosquitos.

Incorporate hardscaping

Adding more hardscaping to your lawn is another way to minimize the need for great amounts of water. Homes.com provides a list of hardscaping projects you can consider, including decks, patios, and outdoor kitchens. Hardscaping touches like terraces or walkways can also enhance your property's visual appeal. According to RedFin, such outdoor extras will further increase your home's appraisal value. If you ever decide to sell your property, you can then command a higher asking price.

Create a rain barrel

A rain barrel is simply a container that holds water. You place it outside and it accumulates rain, which you can then use later for watering your plants. Keepers of the Waters recommends placing your rain barrel at the end of a downspout. While a rain barrel can be as simple as a trashcan, you may want to opt for something more aesthetically pleasing. Better Homes and Gardens explains how you can create this handy tool using an actual barrel and a drill. You can even use a piece of hose or PVC pipe to connect your primary rain barrel to a second backup barrel.

Having a beautiful garden and saving water can go hand in hand. Hopefully, the above guide has inspired you with some ideas on how to create a lawn that is both environmentally friendly and aesthetically appealing.