It's Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {Soaker Hoses}

Frannie had a lot of fun visiting her friend's garden this week! She was especially happy to see that her friend was using a water-wise watering method: a soaker hose!

Soaker hoses allow water to seep out slowly all along the length of the hose. Soaker hoses:

• Are an efficient way to water your flower or vegetable garden 
• Produce no runoff because water from the hose only drips as fast as the ground can absorb it 
• Greatly reduce evaporation since they are in direct contact with the ground, and the water does not have to travel through the atmosphere before reaching the ground
• Get the maximum amount of water directly to the roots of the plants!

In addition to saving water, soaker hoses have other benefits. They can save you money since less water is needed. They also reduce the risk of fungal disease because they keep foliage dry.

Frannie has some additional ideas for ways soaker hoses can be used to save water:

1. Soaker hoses can be covered in mulch to further reduce the loss of water to evaporation.
2. Watering only in the early morning hours or late evening hours can also further reduce the loss of water to evaporation.
3. Some soaker hoses are made from recycled materials. Recycled materials help reduce the amount of waste going into our landfills, and they use less water to make than materials made from scratch.

Do you have fun ways you conserve water in your flower or vegetable garden? Share them with Frannie here!