3 tips to make the most of rainwater in your garden

Installing a rainwater tank.

If you want to go all out, you can have a prefab rainwater tank buried in your garden.The advantage: you can collect thousands of liters of rainwater to use later for your washing machine or as watering water for your plants. The big downside is that it does require quite a bit of effort to install a rainwater tank, both in terms of budget and work.

Using a rain barrel.

A more budget-friendly way to collect rainwater than a rainwater tank is a rain barrel. For example, you can attach a gutter to your greenhouse or garden shed and collect that water in a rain barrel. You can quickly collect 200 to 300 liters of rainwater in it. Handy for filling your watering can and watering plants in the summer. With such an above-ground reservoir, you do need to be careful during prolonged frost.

In the greenhouse.

The soil in the greenhouse has had a rest period and could use some new nutrients after winter. Fill a few watering cans and give that rainwater to the soil in your greenhouse. Feel free to repeat this for a few days.

In the garden.

Rainwater that you collect from the roof of, say, your garden shed can also be directed straight into the garden, for example through a downspout with holes or with a drip hose.

• For that, you do need a garden with some variety of plants that enrich the soil, allowing it to absorb more rainwater.
• Mulch enhances that effect.It's a layer of organic material on the ground, like wood chips, grass clippings, or compost, that helps the soil absorb and retain more rainwater. A natural reservoir indeed, that will prove its benefits in the summer.

A pond seems like the most obvious step. Not only do you have something beautiful to look at, but you also attract a whole bunch of animals.

Have you considered a green roof ? It acts like a sponge that holds rainwater while also insulating your roof. It does require an investment, though, because a green roof is quite heavy, so it's best to let an expert handle it.The plants on a green roof are selected for their ability to retain water and provide insulation.

Another option is a wadi. Wadi stands for water drainage through drainage and infiltration and is basically a lower part of the garden where you let the downspout come out. During wet periods, you get a kind of marsh. Because of the slow way the rainwater seeps in, the soil has time to absorb all that moisture well and store water sustainably. "Wadi" is actually an Arabic word and refers to riverbeds in desert areas.