Helpful hints for rain barrels.

Watering A number of sites including www.Wateruseitwisely.com have charts which provide the amount of water needed for various plants and
shrubs. Knowing how many gallons different size plants need will help you conserve water by giving your plants enough water, and prevent being
over watered.

Linking Barrels Rain barrels can be linked so that the flow of water from the downspout fills more than one barrel. Some folks recommend linking
the barrels at the overflow. Problem is the first barrel has to fill before the second barrel begins to fill. In a heavy downpour, some of the rain will be
wasted because the overflow cannot handle the volume. By using a "Y" connection at one faucet and a female to female washing machine type
hose over to the other faucet both barrels have time to fill equally and both can be emptied from the second side of the "Y" connection.

Mosquitoes We have not had problems with mosquitoes in our barrels because of the heavy lid and screen. In the two cases we know about
mosquito larvae washed into the barrel through the screen from a gutter which was holding water. Opening the lid will let those mosquitoes out or a
tablespoon of vegetable oil or a mosquito doughnut in the barrel will kill them.

Water Pressure Rain barrel pressure is excellent for a soaker hose but will not run a yard sprinkler.

Drought A rain barrel can be a life saver for your shrubs and flowers and vegetable garden during a drought or water use restrictions. Despite what
some rain barrel ads claim there is not enough water in a barrel to save your lawn. Don't even try. Many grasses will go dormant and return when
the rains return, but a mature shrub in your landscape will die without water. And a replacement for that mature shrub will cost far more than a bag of
grass seed. Use your rain barrel for the important parts of your landscaping.

Downspout Diverter A simple flex spout like the one which comes with our 55 gallon barrel works very well as diverter. Simply remove the small
end from the barrel and insert it into the lower part of your downspout. Cost is less than five bucks which is a lot better than $30 to $50 for other
types.
Tube type diverters where the water flows from the downspout through a tube connected to the barrel usually require hours of rain to fill the barrel.

Winter If you do not use your rain barrel during winter, protect it from freezing by emptying it and turning it upside down. Our 60 and 80 gallon
barrels have flutes and a slight taper upwards. When water freezes and turns to ice, our barrels allow the ice to ride upward without damage,
however the brass faucet can have water inside and expansion there can split the brass. So leave your rain barrel faucet open in winter. And this is
the time if you have a downspout diverter to reconnect the bottom part of the downspout.

Bottle Caps The top from a two liter soda bottle has a garden hose thread and can be used as a temporary cap for the end of a garden hose