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Appendix 3: Watering the garden

The following is the full report from the new qualitative research on watering the garden. This research was conducted by Judy Oakden Consultancy for the Ministry for the Environment in May 2009.

The focus of the new qualitative research on watering the garden was to gain an understanding of garden-watering behaviour, particularly about attitudes around wasteful watering and how decisions are made about how frequently to water, which can then be used to inform communications and interventions, particularly for local government.

Benefits of a well-watered garden

Focus group participants observed that on a rational level, when a garden was well watered it had nice looking or damp soil, which was easy to weed and work with. A well-watered garden was green and fresh and the plant foliage was glossy, colourful and healthy – for instance silverbeet would be upright or crops or fruit would look good.

On a more emotive level in a well-watered garden, group participants maintained they would ‘smell the dampness in the soil’ and see ‘luxuriant, lush, healthy foliage’. A well-watered garden ‘triggered the senses’ and group participants talked about ‘breathing in nature’, the perfumes in the garden, enjoying the ‘wonder of nature’ and noted the garden was ‘therapeutic’. For them it was gratifying to be in the garden, and a well-watered garden was ‘a job well done’.

Awareness of effective watering

Amongst the Waste Watcher groups in Auckland and Wellington there was a range of awareness of how to water effectively. Some were very knowledgeable, others less so. Watering approaches used varied according to the type of garden, time of year, and time available for gardening. While some gardeners had established routines in the garden, many were opportunistic in making time to attend to the garden. Some of the efficient watering techniques in use are also effective gardening techniques in general. Although Waste Watchers were concerned about being wasteful, they were generally not aware of the contribution of garden watering to total household water use.

Effective watering practice

Some Waste Watchers claimed to have routines related to watering their gardens in terms of regularity, consistency of approach, time and frequency of watering (which were at times mitigated by circumstances). While Waste Watchers were knowledgeable about effective ways to water, there was little evidence that this knowledge was always put into practice. Effective watering appeared to be highly subjective, with respondents believing their practice was not as wasteful as that of others.

Many Waste Watchers knew that thorough and less frequent watering (once every three days to once a week, for an hour or two) was more effective than light and frequent watering (every second day for half an hour).

Few Waste Watchers used timers for irrigation systems; instead they turned the irrigation system, sprinkler or soaker hose on by hand or used a hand-held hose or watering can to water their gardens. Sprinkler owners tended to turn sprinklers on manually rather than use timers. This sometimes resulted in waste if they forgot to turn them off after a couple of hours.

Mine doesn’t have a timer, I am the clock, I just keep an eye on the weather and say it’s been dry for the last few days so I’ll run it for half an hour and after half an hour I would go and make sure the sprinkler is working and just go and turn it off.

We go and turn it on and have it on a timer... Probably about an hour.

Sprinklers were highly visible, and the time, frequency and spread of water from sprinklers was seen as either effective or wasteful depending on how they were used. Waste Watchers were concerned to avoid overwatering, and saw water runoff or water-logging as undesirable. Waste Watchers were particularly scathing of neighbours who used their sprinklers all the time, regardless of the weather.

My neighbours have got one and they just leave it on and can be pouring with rain and their sprinklers will still be going... It drives me crazy... It just was waste, all that fresh water going out into the garden for no reason, and often they have even got it on so powerful that it waters our garden as well.

Hand-held hoses were used by many to water the garden. Benefits were that the hose watered specific areas, and that in many instances participants had to choose to water the garden when using the hose.

The advantage of a hose is that assuming that it is a hand-held hose, is that you are putting it where you want it to go, rather than watering the whole back garden.

With the hand-held hose you are making a conscious decision to go out and water, and so you wouldn’t tend to do it on a wet day, and if you felt that it wasn’t needed.

Watering cans were seen as a particularly effective way to deliver water exactly where needed.

I use a watering can for the tomatoes because I know then how much a good soak is, and I know if I use two watering cans full I have only got a few plants I know how much each plant has got and therefore I only need to water every couple of days.

Those who used hoses or watering cans needed to make time for the activity. For those who loved gardening, the opportunity to water the garden was a welcome respite in a busy day. For those who felt obligated to garden, garden watering was another chore in a busy day.

Some Waste Watchers only watered if there had not been rain for several days. Some of those with watering routines watched the forecast and watered in the early morning or evening, if they thought it was not going to rain.

Others were opportunistic in the timing of watering their gardens, and gave them a good soak when they remembered. For many who were time poor, gardens were watered when time was available, and this was not always at the optimal time for the garden.

Well for me it’s just basically opportunistic and based on what time I get home and do I think it’s going to rain and if I don’t think it is going to rain and then there is still half an hour’s daylight left I will stick the dog on a lead and drag him out to the front lawn so he can bark at everybody going up and down the street and I will water the garden.

It’s knowledge intensive for me as well, it’s time intensive because I am not particularly good at routine… if I don’t remember to water my plants or my garden once a week, you can really see the effects of that.

Group participants agreed that it was best if the drainage and irrigation of a garden were well planned at the outset, but noted that there is not always the opportunity to do this easily.

You’ve got to have that forward planning though, sometimes, if you are setting up a garden... I set up planter boxes, and then I thought about irrigation afterwards, and thought oh bugger I should have done this earlier, and put some hoses underneath.

If you are setting up a garden then it’s ... thinking about it, but if you have already inherited an established garden then it gets hard to put one in.

There was evidence that some gardeners had adapted their gardens to make them easier to manage – for instance using mulch, improving the soil over a number of years, or adapting the planting style.

I use mulch as well so I don’t have to water, I am always away for the hottest part of the summer, so my plants always die if I don’t mulch before I go away, and we don’t have anyone water them while I am away.

I try to mulch as well…it was a city council thing saying that especially when the water drought was on, they were saying that if you mulch then it’s going to retain more moisture in the soil.

There was also evidence that some Aucklanders used grey water in their gardens.

But many in the Waste Watchers group in Auckland felt that other than when there were restrictions, there was plenty of water, you just have to pay for it.

No we nearly did [have restrictions] but we haven’t yet, thank god.

[The water supply here] it’s good...there is plenty.

You can just use it, you just pay for it and you use it.

You pay twice for it but you can use it all the time.

If you want to have a lovely garden and veges and all that fruit and things like that …you just do pay for it [water] each week.

While commentary in news media reminded Waste Watchers not to water too often, in their minds this related more to water shortages during droughts, than water conservation in general.

I think that mostly most of my feeling about that is they are negative prompts or like negative about ‘we are going into a water shortage so don’t use your water’, so the garden is the first thing you shouldn’t water or something, so mostly I find the media [gives] negative kind of commentary on how I might go about using [water].

On the other hand there were also a few participants who were aware of the need to conserve water, but overall Waste Watchers felt concerned not to ‘waste’ water (rather than conserve it). Waste was defined as watering the garden when the garden is clearly damp or there are even pools of water, or overwatering – where there was water running onto the footpaths from the garden. It was considered wasteful to use high-powered sprinklers rather than a concentrated soak of the garden, as was watering when the sun was high.

Indicators that the garden needs watering

Indicators that a garden needed watering were both rational observable aspects and less tangible, more emotive aspects.

Rational indicators

Some Waste Watchers maintained they assessed the soil condition to determine if the garden needed watering. Some checked below the surface – the odd person had a probe for checking.

I have got a moisture probe, which my kids gave me for Christmas and it’s really useful... It’s about that long, you put it into the soil and it tells you how wet it is down underneath, where you can’t see it.

I’ve got my finger, if it’s nice and moist it’s good enough for me... Probably [probe down] about that far down, 15 cm maybe.

Another clear signal the garden needed watering was if plants were droopy, losing leaves, looked lethargic, or if there were lots of insects on plants.

I think knowing your plants really because they have individual needs and it is not just one size fits all as far as watering goes, so you really have to know your plants and what their requirements are.

Dry weather for an extended period was also an indicator that the garden needed watering.

Maybe there is something really intuitive happening and ... smell rain when it comes and maybe we can smell the garden needs watering when we go out, I don’t know.

Well ...it might not rain for three days and then I might still keep thinking the weather forecast is telling me rain is coming so I might let it go longer than that, and if I let it go longer, it has maybe gone as long as a week, especially for being lazy about not wanting to go out and water the garden ...it wouldn’t be a question of using less water, because I am just using all this water now, so it would be a really big soak.

Waste Watchers were also more likely to water new plantings more frequently because they needed more intensive tending.

I would only water my veges as a rule, I don’t tend to water the other plants, like if they are new in the ground and I have just planted them I do, but once they are established ...I don’t water them as well.

Waste Watchers preferred not to waste water, but other than when there were restrictions, they were prepared to water the garden even at sub-optimal times if that was the only option.

And if you have got really flash visitors coming you go and water the garden a couple of hours before they get there and by the time they get there the plants are ... so nice to see you.

However, many were prepared to adapt to changed conditions, when required, and many recounted stories of growing up on tank water, or experiencing water shortages on holiday.

I grew up with we only had tank water so we did actually have to save the water from washing because we couldn’t water the garden, my father had a huge half an acre section which a quarter of an acre was the vege garden and he couldn’t water it much at all, mind you we lived in Southland then so it was a bit different, but it could still be dry but not as probably as much as here.

Therefore having had a tank water living experience you have got some almost in-built things about conserving water or not being wasteful with it, and then having to conserve it more when it gets really low, and we don’t people don’t have that now.

Emotive relationship with the garden

There was a highly emotive relationship between some Waste Watchers and their gardens. At the most positive end of the spectrum, for some, watering the garden was a ‘time out’ relaxing activity.

I find it quite a pleasant experience, especially on a summer’s evening, standing out there.

Well it’s just work stops, study stops, everything’s very peaceful and you just stand there holding the hose and watering all the plants which are growing beautifully and it’s a very peaceful moment.

Others used garden watering as a chance to spend time with children, and gardening was an important skill some parents wanted to share with their children.

I don’t enjoy gardening [but] I like the idea that I am contributing, you know do your little CO2 thing, home for the birds and all that kind of stuff, the bigger picture stuff, and that my daughter actually gets, because New Zealand is known for being green, so that’s a big part of it too, I can’t live in a house without green stuff around.

During the summer we were watering every second day. I used the watering can, because it was fun for my kids to use the watering can, but also like teaching them about life and seeing the things grow…but also knowing how much water you are using.

For others, gardens were domains for relationship negotiations. Sometimes the ‘main’ gardener expected their partner to water the garden as their ‘contribution’.

I really just assist my wife really, she’s the main gardener in our household, but whatever I can do to help.

For us and probably my wife is a bit more disciplined than I am, but she heads out to the front and I head to the back so when she is going I head out to the back, if she is not going then I don’t, that’s not strictly correct, when the plants are small and vege plants through the summer it’s really every second day, the social thing we head off in different directions so it is not really social, it’s time out on your own, it’s good time out.

Other times they felt guilty if they did not maintain the garden to the parent’s instruction. Not watering the garden could be a sign of neglect, and the adult children felt particularly guilty if plants seemed ‘stressed’ – especially if their parents were visiting.

My mother-in-law, she is a constant reminder, I need it, I am really terrible... Because she knows that we are really bad, when we do it we have lots of fun, but we forget.

I ask my daughter if she has watered the garden, the plants that I have put there, because if I put them in and they die...

In some suburbs there was social pressure from neighbours and from others, from seeing what others were doing, or from wanting to keep up with others to maintain a healthy looking garden. Waste Watchers were likely to water their garden to ensure it looked similar to others in the street.

Well I’m just thinking too that I think home ownership is a factor here, when I look back I didn’t really get enthusiastic although my parents were keen gardeners, I didn’t get enthusiastic until I owned my first home, and then there was a commitment to creating that whole environment around my home.

If you are proud of your house and your neighbourhood then you are more likely to make sure the lawns are mowed and the garden is watered.

I think another big advantage is possibly the value that is probably added to your property, having beautiful flowers in the garden.

I think it might be the neighbourhood too that you live in, because when we used to live it was quite a posh place and everybody’s garden was so nice, I think we were the youngest couple in the neighbourhood but you know, you felt like you had to live up to their standards.

For some, their garden was linked to their self esteem (how they felt about themselves) and their self identity (how others viewed them).

Well the first person’s house we go to with my friends and family is the one who’s got the beautiful garden out the back, the picnic table or the BBQ area.

Our garden part of it is quite sentimental because my placenta has been planted in it under one of the trees so from that perspective it is quite a special little, we planted a particular plant in a particular place and so it is quite a spiritual or whatever.

And finally there was also a sense amongst group participants that gardening is an iconic New Zealand activity, especially the pride of growing fruit and vegetables and allowing children to play in the garden with the hose.

It’s kind of part of the New Zealand psyche isn’t it, the old ...grandparents grew the veges and fruit, and you never have to go far to see it, and it’s nice to be able to be a part of that.

It’s almost like a worthy investment in it because you know there is going to be something tangible whether it’s enjoying it with your friends, got your veges whatever, you know that if you put something in, you are going to get something out of it.

[At] a dinner party and you are producing what you have grown in your own garden I think people are more impressed by that sort of thing.

I love to see them [the children] running around and having fun, but you are kind of aware of the water sort of zapping through 15–30 litres.

You just take a deep breath and look around yourself and say ‘thank god I live in New Zealand’.

 

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