10 Smart Watering Tips for Your Vegetable Garden

Water is a truly precious resource. Getting smart with the way we water saves time and money while boosting plant health.

Watering at the right time, in the right place, using the right methods can make a big difference to how much water your garden needs.

In this short video we’ll share 10 tried-and-tested tips for saving water in the garden.

If you love growing your own food, why not take a look at our online Garden Planner which is available from several major websites and seed suppliers:
and many more...

[donnahornby]

Hi, great video on water. My garden is in South Africa, and drought prone and hot area. My two additions are: planting seedlings closer together to prevent wends and for shade (you can think later if necessary); and using newspaper as layered mulch after seeds have emerged, on top of which I lay compost, lawn clippings and sawdust. Reduces watering requirements hugely in the dry season.

[carltaylor]

Research "ollas" and set up a gravity-fed system to run water to the ollas. You can water your entire garden by tuning a tap on for five minutes. It saves 70% of your water. I use this in the south of Spain and it works incredibly well. You don't get any weeds either as the surface soil is bone dry.

[donnahornby]

I recycle grey water from shower and washing machine into buckets with holes that are slightly sucken into the soil. Also, I mulch heavily, first with layers of newspaper and then on top of that, I put thick layers of leaves, sawdust, sticks and anything else I can find. Six weeks without rain and the soil is still slightly damp two inches below the surface.

[lunethgardens]

I'm in southern AZ in the US. Last week we saw 115 degree weather. My raised beds in my "sunken" garden are doing fine. No rain in about 6 months and I'm on 1/4 inch soaker hoses that don't put out much water as they are old and below the surface under compost and wood mulch. I water 4 times a day for 5 mins each. I like this "sunken" garden approach and hope to do it on a large scale with modifications at the next house.

[notalltheories]

I’m using Hugelkultur beds this year to combat drought conditions here in California. Buried wood soaks up the rain and stores it beneath the roots, watering the plants when they need it and slowly breaking down into rich soil as well. And of course lots and lots of mulch on top!

[plotus]

Best watering video I’ve seen yet. I am having a terrible time with watering my newly installed landscape garden. Thanks for the tips 🚿

[anniegaddis]

I used to live in Arizona. When we had a drought, I'd put 2 bricks in the tank of the toilet to displace water (there was still enough to flush good). I'd catch rain water from the roof into a 5/gal bucket and bring it into the bathroom, and when it was flushed (if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down), I use the bucket to refill the tank.

[VaveeDances]

I live in Las Vegas, NV..USA...desert climate. Fall-Spring is not such a challenging time...a good morning soak does wonders. The summers, however are a different story. 112-115 degrees (44-46 degrees C) in the day and NEVER below 80-90 degrees (27-32C) at night. Also, we are always water-stressed in the summer, so conservation is key. All my summer veg is on automatic root-drip irrigation (no loss from evaporation)....sunrise, noon and sunset for 10 minutes. This summer, I harvested 30 kilos of tomatoes from 5 plants.

[kjspaeth]

We use ollas to water our garden. It's unglazed pottery we sink into the garden and fill up with water every few days. The water seeps slowly out to water the roots

[JFrenchRennier]

Enjoy your videos. I live in Louisiana & have greatly increased my organic garden yields utilizing the tips from the video's. Where water is not a problem, smart watering can be achieved & I use the sunken pot method.
Thanks for the suggestion of grass clippings 2 seasons ago. I began mowing with a grass catcher & use the clippings, also a pickup truck load of free sawdust from a mill & obtain a truckload of free manure from a hobby sheep/goat ranch which brings the animals into an enclosed barn at night for protection.

[billastell]

I live in Ontario Canada where we usually get a summer drought... but every so often a wet summer.  Two methods I use to deal with drought that I don't think were mentioned here are 1/ plant early,  especially potatoes, to suck up as much of the spring melt rain as possible.  A one week delay in planting potatoes can make the difference between a good crop and a failed crop.  2/ I plant my seedling deep. either in trenches or depressions that I don't fill in with soil.  That leaves a little depression that I can water if necessary without the water running away if I end up having to baby my plants.

[loriholtorf]

Here in Vancouver it rains most of the time in Fall, Winter and Spring, but then it doesn't rain at all for about 2 months in the Summer, with temperatures around 30 C (86 F) most of the day and no cloud in sight. I'm struggling to keep up with watering my raised veggie beds every morning, not to mention the beans and peas I planted in the front yard. I'm using the Square Foot Gardening method for my beds, but with only 6 inches (well, the bottom has sunken, so it's more like 8) of "soil" mixture, I'm finding my plants dry out so quickly and look all sad and droopy by late afternoon when I get home from work. I did use a drip irrigation system out front when I was growing corn there, but it didn't work very well (it's a hilly sort of spot, and the irrigation system didn't work very evenly). Ollas are a great idea, but won't work well with my shallow beds. I think I'm going to have to build up my beds another 4-6 inches, but the wood and "soil" mix ingredients were a hefty investment in the first place, so I'm loathe to repeat it. Sometimes I wonder if I'm watering too much, but then the wilty plants in the afternoon say maybe not. And then I'm puzzled by the advice to add mulch around plants, because others say not to put any extra organic materials on the soil because it harbours bugs. Sigh. The internet - so much information, so little certainty. :)

[alexandrastafford]

Here in hot and sunny southern California I use self-watering pots on my back patio. In winter I only have to fill about once a week, in summer I fill at least 3 times a week.

[peachesandsugar]

Water from rain barrels should not be used on veggies and soaker hoses are made from toxic materials, be sure to check that you are using a hose that is organic one that you can drink water from it.

[onalennasehume]

I take 2L bottles of water, poke a few holes in the cap using a screwdriver (or something that would make reasonably sized holes), dig a hole about a third of the size of the bottle, invert the bottle and simply place it in hole. No need for a watering can or hose pipe. The bottle acts a drip irrigation mechanism which lasts for about 8-10 hours until you have to refill it

[TheMiddletownInsider]

I just moved from New England where I had raised beds with soil I amended with compost for many years, to south central Ohio where I tilled up the grey clayish soil. On a limited budget and unable to collect grass clippings for mulch, I've laid out cardboard to help hold moisture and keep down weeds and grass.

[emylytle]

I water at night cuz that’s the only time I have in the morning I go early to babysit, I need to make some watering system to make them feel better so won’t dry like plastic bottles with little holes around and fill up when runs dry. Thanks Ben a very excellent tips again from the pro 👍👍♥️😊👩‍🌾

[roseinthepines]

I'd like to see a tips about gardening in areas that are hot, humid and get a lot of heavy rain - like the SE US. Both container and garden beds. Emma's comment below provides a great tip and is honestly something I've considered. Too much rain can cause all sorts of problems like algae & fungus growth and diseases like soil blight from frequent heavy rain. I found out the hard way tomatoes are very difficult to grow successfully here except for a very few varieties.

[pdpond]

Unfortunately we get only a scant bit of rain in Oregon during the summer, windy and very dry! I rely on drip irrigation
Grass, and leaf mulch. Composted soil, and shade cloth helps retain water on hot days! Great watering tips. Thanks!!

[erlstube]

I'm in drought ridden Northern California and without summer rain I'm always looking for ways to get moisture into the beds without over-watering. I use the wash water from cleaning my veggies quite often (bonus! extra organic matter) and have terracotta pots in the beds with covers on so that I can go a couple days without direct watering when the weather is right in summer.