Bought a rain barrel setup for my place in Portland and it's messing with my head

Spent about $120 on a basic 55-gallon barrel and diverter kit. It feels good to water the garden with it, but every time it fills up from a heavy rain, I just think about how messed up the weather patterns are getting here. Has anyone else had this weird mix of feeling prepared but also more worried?

4 comments

4 Comments

grays132mo ago

Honestly my rain barrel in Seattle just makes me feel less guilty about watering my lawn. Tbh the weather's always been wild here, I remember crazy downpours as a kid too. Setting it up actually made me worry less because now I'm using what falls for my plants.

seth_singh202mo agoMost Upvoted

I get what you mean @grays13, but that "less guilty" feeling is the whole problem for me. It tricks us into keeping water-hungry lawns in a place that gets dry summers. My neighbor's barrel runs empty by July, then he's back on city water for his grass. Using rain is good, but maybe we should plant stuff that doesn't need a sprinkler at all.

emerym361mo ago

I set a rule for myself after my barrel ran dry two years running - I only use rain barrel water for plants that are already drought-tolerant, not my whole lawn. Mulching around my flower beds helped hold moisture way more than I expected too. If you pair that barrel with some clover or native ground cover that actually survives July, you skip the guilt trip and the city water bill.

the_lee2mo ago

Yeah that "less guilty" feeling is real. I swapped half my lawn for clover and it still looks green but I barely touch the hose now. Maybe a mix is the move instead of fighting to keep all grass.