During a hot snap when water is in high demand, it can be a good idea to conserve as much as you can either from rainfall or residual ground moisture. The less you need to attach a hose pipe and use household water for your garden, the more is available for your local ecosystems and area in general. As drought conditions become a little more common, conserving water is an excellent habit to adopt.
Water butts
Water butts are a great way of gathering rainwater to use in watering later. By installing a good- sized water butt, you can collect during the wet seasons and make use of it in the dry. You can use plastic or wooden barrels and they usually have a tap at the bottom for easy filling of watering cans. If you can place them beside a structure with some guttering, you can also collect water that pours off the roof as well.
Mulch
Bark mulch laid on top of soil will naturally slow evaporation of any water you put on your garden, meaning that water remains available to the plants for longer. Also, mulch discourages weeds from growing, so there is less competition for water.
Compost
Compost can hold many times its own weight in water so applying it to your soil before watering will create a water retention effect, making it more available to plants for longer.
Timing
There is some debate as to whether morning or evening is better for watering the garden. However, what is agreed is that you should avoid watering in the intense heat when you will lose more to evaporation.
