Do you still need water? Although spring has been around for a while, April is pulling out all the stops and the rain continues to pour down every day. That may be a bit depressing for the mood, but all that rainwater can also be quite useful. Especially if we get longer periods of drought in the summer.
I will give you three tips to use rainwater usefully.
Store rainwater for later use
Installing a rainwater tank.
If you want to use the big resources, you can have a prefabricated rainwater tank dug in your garden. The advantage: you can collect thousands of litres of rainwater in it to use later for your washing machine or as irrigation water for your plants. The big disadvantage is that it takes quite some 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 house and collect that water in a rain barrel. In that, you can easily collect 200 to 300 liters of rainwater. Handy for filling your watering can and watering plants in the summer. With such an above-ground reservoir, you do have to be careful with prolonged frost.
Tip: use snow
You can also easily provide the greenhouse with rainwater by collecting packs of snow outside and pouring them into the greenhouse. The meltwater will then drip steadily into the ground. Of course, it has to snow quite a bit in the winter for that to happen.
Collect rainwater and use it immediately
You can also collect rainwater and use it directly in your garden… or in the greenhouse.
In the greenhouse.
The soil in the greenhouse has had a rest period and could use some new food after the winter. Fill a few watering cans and give that rainwater to the soil in your greenhouse. You can repeat this for a few days.
In the garden.
Rainwater that you collect on the roof of your garden shed, for example, can also be sent straight into the garden, for example via a drainpipe with holes in it or with a drip hose.
- For this you need a garden with some variety of plants that enrich the soil, allowing it to absorb more rainwater.
- Mulch enhances this effect. It is a layer of organic material on the soil, such as wood chips, grass clippings or compost, which ensures that the soil can absorb and retain more rainwater. A natural reservoir , which will prove its benefits in the summer.
