If your garden receives an uninterrupted supply of water then you are the luckiest as there are a number of us who dwell in drought affected areas where there is restriction to use water for the normal growth of the plants in the garden. There are many who drop the idea due to the shortage of water supply, but we have methods to survive with the shortage and modify our garden to keep it green and lively.
One of the most common method is drip irrigation (where a pipe or hose is used which has tiny holes to slowly ooze into the roots of the plants). By placing the water needs of the same kinds of plants in groups (to avoid wastage of water for the ones which do not need much water) and the usage of mulch or compost to separate according to the requirement and avoid drainage.
Taking precautions against drought is the best way as it is forecast well in advance or it begins with a few weeks of good shower At this point you should take the chance to place a number of rain barrels. Most of them think this takes a lot of time and funny to do. But gallons of water can be preserved without much strain.
Hunting for rain barrels is difficult and so our garbage cans can be used, a few 55gallon plastic drums can also be purchased from the home improvement store, bit they cost you more and are difficult to be transported so be prepared. The mouth of these barrels has to be covered with a screen of filter like thing to avoid falling of unwanted leaves or debris that may fall from the roof of the house.
When the barrels are ready it is now time to decide where to keep them exactly, as there is a particular place in the house that has a flow of the rain water. So to be safe it is better to place a barrel on all possible places where there may be good amount of drips although you may not notice that there is not a good volume of rain collected in each of the barrels.
Yet another alteration that can be done to place the barrels is to totally alter the channel of the roof from where the rain water is collected by removing each section and placing it in a slanting position where all the water falls to the nearest corner of the house where the barrel is placed. In this method the whole house acts as a rain collector and the barrel collects a good amount of water in this method.
When the rainfall has stopped and the sky looks clear with no more of showers, the water in each of the barrel which will not be much, is to be poured in one main central barrel and can be preserved for further used when needed. This will help you to place back the barrels in their position when there is another shower without much strain.
The Rain Barrel may seem an old idea to some but during a drought you will be able to save some gallons for the garden adding to your allotment and you will fell great for the pain you have taken to collect the rain water. You have to keep watching from time to time when it begins to rain at your backyard and you will be the happiest gardener to have overcome the scarcity of water.