A Review of My Rain Barrel

This summer I finally went out and bought my own rain barrel to install on our house. I've been looking for a long time for food grade barrels to make my own but they seem to be increasingly hard to find as the idea of converting them into rain barrels is becoming increasingly popular. I found this Fiskars Rain Barrel (Fiskars 5996 Holden 48-Gallon Rain Harvesting System) at one of my local box stores and decided to bring it home.

Rain Barrel Installed near the shade garden.

The installation was fairly easy and only needed a hacksaw to cut into our gutter downspout and a drill with a paddle bit for making the hole into the rain barrel. The kit fit into a 1 inch cut out on the downspout and then hose was easily attached. The water spigot was simple to put together also. I made sure to add a few concrete blocks (that part cost less than $5 for 4 concrete blocks and 1" caps) underneath the rain barrel to raise it where I wanted the barrel before installation since that would make it easier to get water out either with a hose or a watering can.

I've been very happy with its performance this year and I can't stress enough how much a rain barrel helps in the garden. I don't use the water I collect in it for the vegetable garden but I've used it just about everywhere else! The only thing that bugs me is that it's actually $10 cheaper now than when I bought it! (currently $54.95 with free shipping at Amazon.)  Isn't that always how it works?

No products were given to me for this review however affiliate links to Amazon are present.

5 Ways To Make a Waterwise Garden!

The heat of summer is coming soon and the rains are going to be stingy at best though the season. Many municipalities give residents watering restrictions in an effort to keep costs down and to maintain a good water supply.  While this may seem to make watering your plants a daunting task there are several things you can do to make your garden more water-wise!

Let's take a look at 5 Ways to Make your garden a Waterwise Garden!

1. Water deeply and water less often.  Hopefully you've heard this before!  If not here's why: when you water deeply you encourage roots to grow deeper and the water stays down in the soil longer (slower evaporation).  Deeper roots make the plants better able to find water in the soil when rains may be scarce. 
2. Mulch, mulch, mulch!  Mulch is a great way to keep the soil temperature down and to retain moisture in the ground.  A good two inch layer of mulch will significantly reduce your watering needs.  It also introduces organic matter into the soil as the mulch breaks down which helps your soil in the longrun!
3. Keep your garden weeded!  Weeds need water too so the fewer weeds you have the more water is available for your plants.  Weeds tend to be aggressive and ruthless when it comes to growing and will out compete many desirable plants in a plant to plant matchup.  The gardener here needs to jump into the ring and tag team against the weeds!
4. Use rain collection devices!  Yes I'm talking rainbarrels!  Rainbarrels are neat way to add a little extra water to your supply.  Of course it requires that you receive some rain.  If you receive even a small amount of rain to collect off your roof you can fill a significant portion of your rainbarrel.  Save the rain barrel usage for those dry days in between rains.  I don't use my rainbarrel for anything other than ornamentals due to possible contaminants from the asphalt shingle roof, but I have plenty of ornamentals that are aided by a little supplemental watering! (my rainbarrel on Amazon)
5. Use natives!  Native plants are well adapted to your area and can survive those drought periods of summer without much help from the gardener.  They have developed over time to adapt to the local weather conditions and have a great tolerance for the extremes in their native zones.   

Hopefully this list is helpful for you!  Here are more Friday Five posts all about gardening for your reading pleasure.