You’d be amazed at how much time some gardeners spend watering
OK, I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a data geek. As so much gardening advice is based not on systematically tested ideas, but received wisdom, I find doing a bit of measuring and recording can often reveal some surprising results. One of the simplest methods I have found is timing how long I spent doing different indoor and outdoor gardening tasks and noting how they stack up. While I was pretty sure watering was going to come out top in terms of time investment in the growing season, even I was astonished that 70% of my time spent in the garden was dedicated exclusively to holding a hose. If you are anything like me, finding water-wise ways to irrigate will not only save you an enormous amount of time, but reduce your bills and help the planet, too.
Probably the most straightforward and sustainable way to reduce water usage is to ditch growing in containers in favour of the ground. The huge relative surface area to volume ratio of pots means that they will not only dry out far faster than open ground, but will also be subject to wider temperature fluctuations, which can further exacerbate water loss. This is particularly the case in containers with porous surfaces, like fibre-lined hanging baskets or unglazed terracotta, and the smaller the pot, the more thirsty your plants will be.
