When you live in a state like Wisconsin with more than 17,000 lakes (yes, more than Minnesota’s “land of 10,000 lakes”), water conservation isn’t always a priority. Truth is, even though we have abundant water resources, it’s important to protect the quality of our water for our safety and enjoyment. All that water we use, costs money to maintain, so if we can cut back a little, we save.

Our union friends at Plumbers 75 have provided a list of things we can do this summer to conserve the water we use gardening and maintaining our lawns.

• Water your yard before 8 a.m. to reduce evaporation.

• Install a smart sprinkler controller on your garden hose. You can water your lawn exactly the way you need using zone controls, and timer and programming functions.

• Use a broom or blower to clean driveways and sidewalks.

• Check your sprinkler system for leaks, overspray and broken sprinkler heads.

• Use organic mulch around plants to reduce evaporation.

• Plant flowers, trees, and bushes that require less watering and are appropriate for our Wisconsin climate conditions.

• Use a shut-off nozzle on your hose.

• Raise the lawn mower blade to at least three inches. A higher cut encourages grass roots to grow deeper, shades the root system and holds soil moisture better than a closely-clipped lawn.

• Collect water from your roof to water your garden.