Rainwater harvesting for your garden

In urban areas a rainwater collection system can be used to supply water for irrigation and water gardens. These systems help reduce rain runoff and help with storm water management. It in turn, they the lessen burden on nature and city management. 

They add green infrastructure to your home reducing its dependence on city water. And by doing so reduce your water bill. It also reduces the amount of water your municipality has to treat.

They are also excellent companions to any pond or water garden. Rain water is much healthier than city water for gardens. Simply attaching a rain barrel to your home won’t lessen the burden on city water and storm drains if it’s not used. It will essentially just be a temporary storage. 

So a planned method to use this water becomes important. A water feature provides this demand. Through evaporation, plant uptake, and watering your garden the rain will be used enough to make a difference.

City water contains chemicals that actually harm plants. Chlorine and sodium can cause leaves to turn brown. The water has very little oxygen. And with prolonged use can cause a white to buildup on leaves. 

This white buildup is the minerals that are found in city water building up in the plants. One of the biggest downsides is city water kills mycorrhizae, a beneficial fungus that grows in soil and aids in the transportation nutrients to plants. 

When city water is pumped into a pond in large quantities, the same thing happens. It does more harm to plants and fish than good. In fact it burns fish gills and can kill them if there is large quantities of it. So either you must let it stand to dissolve the chlorine or add a treatment to remove it as you add it to the pond.

Overwhelmingly, the best solution to these problems is rainwater. There is a reason nature comes alive after a rainfall. Rain has lots of oxygen in it, that way it does not kill roots when the garden is saturated. Rain is also slightly acidic, this helps in the release of nutrients plants need. 

Pondering Paradise has a wide variety of options for rainwater harvesting.

We have above ground and below ground options. These systems will harvest rain from the eaves of your house and store them for future use. Both lessening the storm drain burden your home has as well as the dependence on city water.