Collect Rain Water Using Rain Barrels And Keep Your Garden Green Even In A Drought

Making use of rain barrels may appear to many people to be an old-fashioned concept. However, when you’re the one in the middle of a severe dry spell and you’re in a position to use a couple of extra gallons for your back garden, aside from that the city allotment, you’ll appreciate every bit of time and money you invested in accumulating all that rain.

All it requires is a couple of outings to the backyard when it begins to rain, and you’ll be one thrilled gardener when water isn’t so plentiful.

If you're fortunate enough to live in an an area with a virtually unlimited water supply you're amongst the lucky ones.

Today there are many people who live in drought zones areas, where watering rules are very restrictive and can have an adverse affect on the growth of lawns and garden plants.

This causes many people to throw in the towel when they discover just exactly how little water they're actually allowed to use.

However many gardeners have identified a number of ways in which they can manage their gardens with less water. There are plenty of different methods to maximize ones garden activities whilst reducing the use of water.

The RTS Accents rain barrel has several distinctive features including a flat back to sit flush against a wall, linkable to other rain barrels for increased capacity, screen to keep out debris and insects, and a shut off valve for hose hook up with dual overflow.

This authentic oak barrel texture is molded into every single barrel and will not fade, rot or risk insect infestation.

Keeping Your Garden Growing During A Drought...

The most effective way to keep your garden alive during a dry spell is to take a few precautionary measures. Many times a drought will be forecast well in advance, and for those already going through a drought a few weeks notice of heavy rain will be given.

When this happens, you need to grab the opportunity to put in place a number of rain barrels. Some people believe this is a time consuming action to take. Nevertheless it can help you save a lot of water, and involves hardly any work at all.

These generally aren't too costly although they can be a little on the large size and difficult to transport. You will likely want to cover the top of the rain barrel with a screen or lid of some kind to prevent any debris from getting into the barrel.

After you've got your barrels prepared, you'll need to find the best place to site them. Typically during rain fall, there is at least one corner or portion of the house that rain has a tendency to pour off.

For those who are taking the easy way to barrel positioning, simply position the barrel beneath all areas where you see huge amounts of drips. But bear in mind, while this may be the most convenient way to position them, you probably won’t see a high volume of rain in the barrels.

The most effective method is to ensuring you collect the most water is to use a downspout diverter, a simple and more aesthetic way to collect rain water from the downspout.

So in essence your whole house works as a catcher for the rain, rather than a few feet of shingles. This is the way to take full advantage of the volume of water your rain barrel will catch.

Build Your Own...

The video here has step by step instructions on how you can build your own barrels cheaply and easily, with parts available at hardware and irrigation stores. It's not difficult to have one of these barrels up and running in under 15 minutes.