Managing Water in an Organic Garden

How you manage and conserve rainwater is one of the most important things in an organic garden. Fresh water is essential for our growing efforts. Whether you live in an arid area with low rainfall, or somewhere where rainfall is abundant, it always makes sense to pay attention to how you collect, store and use water in your garden.

Harvesting Rainwater
Whether you get a lot of it, or just a little, harvesting rainwater is essential for all organic gardeners who want to garden sustainably long-term. You can harvest rainwater from your home, your polytunnel or from other structures in your garden. Collecting rainwater is not only better for the environment, it makes for healthier plants too.

Swales & Irrigation
In a sustainable, organic garden, it is a great idea to consider how you will link your rainwater harvesting system to your growing areas. Of course, you can simply allow a rainwater butt or barrel to fill. However, you could also consider allowing rainwater to flow into an irrigation or water retention system of some kind.

• Swales

While often misunderstood, swales are not designed to move water around a site but rather to hold or retain water along contours, to aid in the growth of trees and shrubs. They are most commonly used on very arid sites, where water is in short supply. Swales filled with mulch could be the destination for water from a rainwater harvesting system in a particularly arid location.

• Drip Irrigation

In areas where rainwater is more common, you could consider feeding the rainwater you harvest into a drip irrigation system. Most commonly, such irrigation will feature a drip hose or soaker hose that winds along at or just below ground level through your growing areas.

• Wicking Beds

Another sustainable solution for using harvested rainwater to sustain crops is to create wicking beds. Wicking beds are deep beds with a growing medium above a reservoir of water. These reservoirs of water in your wicking beds could be filled from a rainwater harvesting system and can be used to grow a wide range of different plants. Wicking beds are just one example of hydroponic or aquaponic systems that could be fed from your rainwater harvesting system.


Garden Ponds/ Reservoirs
If you harvest more substantial quantities of rainwater in your garden, you could also consider installing a direct feed which carries the water you collect from rooftops to a garden pond, or reservoir, which will store the water. The added benefit of a pond or open reservoir is that it will attract a wide range of beneficial wildlife to your garden and allow you to increase the biodiversity of your space.

Learning how to manage water in your garden is an important skill to master. It can help you prepare for disaster and become more self-reliant and self-sufficient, whatever the future may bring.

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