Water is the elixir of life but in many ways it is taken for granted as there is usually such an abundance of it.
These days with taps in every home and even on the exterior of the house people don't stop to think how they can conserve the water they use.
However, there are times when there is a shortage of water due to a long season of hot weather.
This may not affect the amount of water you get through your taps so you won't die of thirst but the one place that does suffer is the garden as all plants and trees need water to survive.
The good news is that there are ways to conserve water in the garden so you don't face such problems down the road.
Mulch is great for water evaporation and moisture control so with the right amount of mulch on your soil will help to retain the water longer.
Mulch has the added advantage of reducing weeds and it also stops other pests from infiltrating the soil, not to mention the extra nutrients it brings with it as well.
So every garden should have some form of mulch down, whether it's just grass clippings, bark clippings or even non organic mulch.
It's better than having none at all and it's easy to place as you can just put it in between the rows of your plants or around the base of trees.
Landscape design can play an important role in water retention and filtration so it may be worth investing in some alterations to your garden layout.
You will find a number of excellent landscape gardeners who will be able to design a great looking garden that is also efficient in conserving water.
If you do face a drought and aren't ready for it, take the time to decide on which plants need watering the most and prioritize.
You will find that plants such as newly planted flowers, shrubs and trees will need the most attention as they will not have developed a full enough root system as the roots will still be rather short.
This limits the amount of water and nutrients they can take in so will suffer as a result in a drought.
Plants and trees on the other hand which have been grounded for a long time will have long enough roots to be able to withstand longer periods without water.
Don't rely on sprinkler systems to water your garden as much of the water stops at the grass level and evaporates away.
You are much better watering the plants at the base yourself and leaving the sprinkler systems purely for lawn treatment to use sparingly.
To improve the effect of watering at the base you should do this task in the morning before the sun gets too hot.
By doing so you'll get less water evaporation and so will cut down the amount of watering that will be needed.
If you live in a cold climate this isn't quite as important but it's still worth noting as you can still get some hot days in any case.
To help reduce the amount of water wasted you can also invest in some type of irrigation system which drips the water out slowly allowing just enough water for the plants to grow.