We always capture clear water in a 5 gallon bucket in the shower while waiting for hot water and use that to replenish water in our water features. We had a duh moment and now use a pitcher to pour into a 5 gallon bucket for the kitchen while waiting for the hot water. We're city dwellers and can't figure out how to harvest gray water, although the washing machine output might not be too difficult to redirect.

We also have the rainwater tanks that are still not mounted, the support frames to raise them so gravity feed is possible haven't been built. I think we had 4 inches of rain on Sunday and had they been ready, the tanks would be full :-(

All new plants will be natives and we have expanded the 'cactus' garden to avoid watering lawn on the side of the driveway. I find that I love mexican feather grass and agave :-)

Unfortunately, this was the year I decided not to let my passion vine plant grow anymore where it is right now. I worried that the neighbors might soon get some invading roots and not be too happy. But that was definitely a plant that could survive and apparently thrive even with the little care I gave it in terms of soil conditions and water.

I have cut back to generally perennial flowering plants. Sometimes some of them are lost in the hot weather also, since I could not water as much as I used to, but I am more OK with that now since they will usually return later in the season or even next year.

I also have invested in more soaker hoses to try to focus water in the certain areas of parts of the plants that can benefit the most.

As for grey water, I also use water from washing veggies inside, but it's possible to buy a small sink type thing that you can put outside in the yard, and wash veggies there. The water source will be your outside faucet connection and can immediately be directed to the location you want without having to use an intermediate bucket first.

Search for this term "portable sink for the yard" on Google and then click on Images to get an idea of what others are using.

Have you ever tried this simple idea of burying cut sections of PVC pipes with holes drilled in to it close to plants? Seems like you could make watering more efficient and deeper by burying them close to plants and then use thick mulch. I saw some other systems piping the grey water to the garden from a holding pan but its more involved.

I'm thinking of trying this on the top part of a difficult slope that stays dry even when we get rain, the water just will not soak in, its got heavy clay soil and it just runs off taking the dirt down the hill making it hard to establish anything there.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=pvc+pipe+watering+plants&img=http%3A%2F%2Fd74bwl3dcueqd.cloudfront.net%2Fimages%2Fguide%2Fe64379f3b75a4ef8aa03b61d60ce77e8%2F516x290_ac.jpg&v_t=nscpsearch&host=http%3A%2F%2Fsnapguide.com%2Fguides%2Fget-water-directly-to-the-roots%2F&width=181&height=101&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ft2.gstatic.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcRQQDW0XNWZUZ7yypdVNuBnoXcWE1OVXNs3vdECIXWiR5C2MCJNLJ8VNkTz%3Ad74bwl3dcueqd.cloudfront.net%2Fimages%2Fguide%2Fe64379f3b75a4ef8aa03b61d60ce77e8%2F516x290_ac.jpg&b=image%3Fv_t%3DimageResultsBack%26page%3D3%26q%3Dpvc%2Bpipe%2Bwatering%2Bplants%26oreq%3D2c729b332aec4603b92ee847ba57a2e1%26oreq%3D99f4bcd5c11b42ee86db06695b88386e&imgHeight=290&imgWidth=516&imgTitle=Step+6+of+7.+Water+your+plant&imgSize=57307&hostName=snapguide.com

We have El Nino now? I thought we are currently in neutral mode but close to El Nina. I've read that we're supposed to see El Nino in the summer but with cold phase of PDO, it may not last very long to see full benefit from above average rainfall from fall till spring.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/reference-pages/climatic-phenomena-pages/enso/

Of course, things can change quickly as we've all know that.

i heard from Weather bell that Spring was going to be a weak El nino . warm water over cold water. I am not sure of the timing

Here is a link that might be useful: Weather Bell

Texas Ranger10. I have heard about that method. It is the digging that I have a problem with, But I guess I could get a good sized long drill bit and drill the earth. It is definitely worth a try and it would work because I am PORING water out of a bucket and that could hold it back and get it deep. I can also use this method Far from the hose reach in my back valley where I am trying to establish some other trees other than Mountain ash Juniper. Thank you.

PKponder, Man have I ever become obsessed by my shower. I have found myself timing one minutes worth of shower water to see if I have a water saving shower head. It is a moderate 2.5 gallons but it could be a 1,8 gallon one. I am trying to train my significant other and adult son to tell me when they are showering so I can hover like a hawk and collect all 15 gallons, otherwise I am lucky if I get a third of it. Here is my set up. VERY basic. The brown is coffee water. We have a three bay commercial sink and 1 goes to the grey water drain. We get grey , clear and brown water LOL. It comes out all colors

We also have a 70'x 13' side porch on our shop that is not collected. I got a leaky 1200gal galvanized tank I am thinking of painting a latex membrane in to collect that side of the shop.. Getting inside it and painting multiple coats is going to be funâ¦.NOT. The size of it says that we could go up to 5000 gal. but now you are getting into the bucks.

Here is what drains our two main roofs. It is a beauty of a system. I just need it to get full!

4" of rain what a lucky duck you are, Ms Ponder. If I had that, I think we would almost be topped off, not quite.

I recommend Mexican oregano and S. greggii pink preference, artemisia valery finnis and Snake broom. But if it gets too bad, I just watch things dry up and pray they will come back.

Gardenper, have you thought of putting in a underground bamboo barrier between you and your neighbor . It is good that you are conscientious about it. Some would not be. I think some trespassers are acceptable. My neighbor loved my plants to stray. He liked my choices but the thugs are another matter.

I wish I had 10 inches of rain for every time they predicted El Nino and it turned out to be wrong. Right now, the weather bureau is saying there is a 50% chance of it starting later this year. And a 50% chance of either neutral or La Nina. Guess they've got there bases covered. Personally I predict more drought. We haven't had a decent rain here in a long time. I checked the bluebonnets at the front of the property and between the lack of rain, two nights in the 30's in a row plus a hot sunny afternoon today, they looked awful! And yet, they're still trying to get ready to bloom. Poor things!

I know what you mean. The way Weatherbell describes the El nino is its a non el nino,damn weak . There are two types of them this is water warming from the top down not water warming from deep down. They act pretty different. I don't have any bluebonnets.

I have also seen the PVC-type of watering system. Although I heard one warning that PVC exposed to the sun will wear it down (meaning it will eventually need replacement) but I think many people covered their pipes with some kind of mulch.

I also toyed with the idea of using cut-up old hoses and attaching some kind of sprinker head to it (even the simple watering heads, not necessarily like the underground sprinkler heads). The hoses could then be flexible, winding around all different ways, as well as able to be ported to the area I need it in.

Thanks for the tip about the bamboo wall. I would love to keep the passion vine plant if I can contain its growth. I have learned how hardy and fast-growing it is even to the point that caterpillars can feed on it without worry.

Try keyhole gardening. The hotter/dryer it is outside, the better it does. Ours keeps producing year round. We are also starting aquaponics in a large greenhouse. Growing in traditional beds is getting more difficult. Loss of moisture, bending to weed and feed, critter invasions, etc. we don't battle that anymore with keyholes. We have 3.