Double-tapping. If hand watering, select one area in your garden. Water the plants two, three, even four times, then skip watering that zone for several weeks or even a month. The same effect can be achieved with automatic irrigation by setting timers for sequential watering. Set the timer to run several times throughout one day and don’t water again for a long time. This allows soil to absorb water gradually and thoroughly.

Covers. Plants lose moisture through leaves (transpiration). Rather than pumping more and more water to a new or struggling plant, try shading it. Make a plant cage out of 1/4” hardware cloth and drape it with a loose weave burlap or shade cloth that provides good ventilation. This slows down transpiration from both sun and wind, reduces soil evaporation, and protects plants as they recover from neglect or transplant shock. Just make sure to dig in the cage and weight down the cloth so that your plant cabana doesn’t try to come out of the ground in a wind and tear the plant.

Monitor the effectiveness of your methods. Use a trowel or moisture meter to dig down to see how much moisture is in the ground and use that as a basis for seasonal adjustments. Here’s a grower talking about moisture meters, mulch, and irrigating. His focus is on fruit trees but the general information is helpful.

Mulch, mulch, mulch. For big trees and edibles, create a mulch layer three to six inches deep and for small plants, one to three inches deep. Mulch keeps roots warm in winter and cool in summer, protects soil life, and slows evaporation. Plants that like rich or acid soils will prefer compost or wood mulches but desert plants are best with non-flammable, easily maintained gravel in the size range of 3/8” to 3/4”. This shades soil while letting air and water reach the soil surface. Keep a mulch-free zone around the base of a plant or tree so that no water collects against the stems or trunks.

TIP	DESIGNING WITH MULCH
	A good watering program includes mulch. Mulching keeps moisture from evaporating and protects roots and soil microbes from cold in the winter and heat in the summer. With this tree we elected to use gravel over wood due to flammability concerns.   To give our mulch ring a clean look, we used a piece of string and a stake to scribe a perfect 14’ circle around the drip line of the tree. We then dug a 9” deep x 1’ wide trench to create the ring then backfilled it with topsoil and 3/4” gravel. The gravel improves percolation and aeration, and will guide water down and around the circumference of the tree near feeder roots. To add visual interest we used smaller 3/8” gravel inside the trench ring, taking care to leave bare dirt around the base of the tree for air circulation. The four terra cotta watering ports will be watered  heavily three to four times a year.   Gary Ward Sand and Gravel in Yucca Valley supplied and delivered the gravel, and the ‘ports’ were found in the boneyard at Whitewater Rock Supply.   Know your source when using organic mulch. Wood mulches can come from trees that were diseased or treated with pesticides. Wood adds organic material to plants but they must be kept damp to keep from blowing away. Most insurance companies recommend against using wood mulch against a structure. Rubber mulches can also burn.   More information on mulch flammability and firesafe practices.

Permaculture Basins.  Permaculture is the practice of collaborating with natural systems to live sustainably and for gardeners in arid environments, rainwater capture is at its core. By using basins and swales to direct rainwater to planted areas, very little supplemental water is needed after a few seasonal soaks.