Cheap Trick: Build Your Own Water Reservoirs

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Tammy Clayton

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Photo Credit: Clayton Landscaping, Gastonia, NC

Use your utility knife to poke a line of small holes along the reservoir bottle.

It’s a lovely thought to plant a pretty little garden around the mailbox. Of course, this is easier said than done for anyone who has a long driveway and no automatic sprinkler system covering the entire property.

Such was the story with my bank manager friend. She wanted a pretty spot of color around her mailbox – about a quarter-mile away from her garden faucet. So my friend “Mary Money” purchased some plants and made her little garden, and a few weeks later I dropped by for a visit. And there was her new little planting – looking awfully parched.

Despite her valiant efforts, Mary Money’s garden suffered. Every evening she’d been dutifully hauling water down the driveway, but by the time she got to her garden, she was lucky if her buckets were half-full. So I suggested she try this little water-reservoir trick of mine, where you take old, plastic soda bottles and transform them into an underground watering system. It worked like a charm! Mary Money’s mailbox garden is very lovely and lush now, and most days the bottles aren’t even empty. If it worked for her, it can work for you, too. It’s easy, inexpensive and a great way to keep your garden looking great!

Photo Credit: Tammy Clayton

Make sure the hole is deep enough to plant 90 percent of the bottle below the surface.

Start by looking around your house for the supplies:

1- or 2-liter pop bottles with the caps (Empty laundry detergent bottles would work, too – biodegradable cleaners only, please. [The bigger sizes work especially well for larger plants like trees. The bigger the root system, the more reserved water you need to keep available.])
Rubber bands or ponytail holders
Old nylon hosiery or some weed-barrier fabric
A utility knife

Warnings

Do not use empty cleaning-product bottles as water reservoirs (unless they’re nontoxic cleaners). You don’t want any residues to harm your plants!

Tips

With this little reservoir trick, you can actually keep plants that like their root zones moist next to those that need their soil a bit drier. So go ahead and experiment with a bog-loving plant in your normal garden setting, or try a drought-loving species as a border around moisture-loving beauties.
Be sure to check the condition of your reservoirs every so often to make sure the filters are still properly attached and don’t need replacing. (Old pantyhose will probably need to be refitted each season.)

Faqs

Q: Can I use this trick in my vegetable garden?
A: Sure! Try using a water reservoir on your tomatoes and other large-vegetable garden dwellers. It’ll ensure your plants don’t get too dry during those long, hot afternoons.

Tools

If you don’t have a sharp utility knife in your household toolbox, no worries. Just use a sharp steak knife instead.

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