How Stage 1 drought restrictions are impacting gardening companies

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Smith’s Gardentown and The All Hands Community Center are both finding ways around the drought restrictions. They’re still committed to serving their clients, but they’re big on helping the city save water for the long run.

“People have to learn what needs water and what doesn’t need water,” said Katherine Smith, President & CEO of Smith’s Gardentown.

While Stage 1 Drought restrictions are in effect in Wichita Falls, some plants need consistent watering to survive.

“Newly planted trees and shrubs need to be watered the first two summers because they don’t have the resources and the root system to go and look for water, so this summer if you have new trees and shrubs they need to be watered slowly and deeply. Don’t water every day, water slowly and deeply when the water is dry,” said Smith.

During the last drought, Smith said they used reclaimed water from the retention ponds that were built before the store opened, but for her clients she suggests...

“We had customers who were putting a bucket of water in their showers, and as the showering water was watering up they would catch that and use it to water some of their plants,” added Smith.

“We have a timer, and we can go out and can go out and set the time of the day anytime we want the water to come out. We try to do ours in the middle of the night sometimes or two or three o’clock at night. We’ll let it run for an hour, and a half. The water is dripping into the ground so the plants and roots can go get them,” said Ronnie Williams, COO of The All Hands Community Center.

Smith said there’s something to look at when considering how to best water your plants.

“Mulch like this...you wanna use 3 inches of bark mulch will help keep the moisture in the soil, and you’ll have to use much less water,” explained Smith.

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