Dealing with Drought

Summer of 2003 was the summer that the light bulb has finally gone off for many gardeners worldwide. I am not only referring to the blackouts and brown outs caused by electrical failures across the Globe, but to the fact that in the 21st century it has now become Mainstream to be concerned with water conservation, recycling and organic gardening methods.

There are many ways that we can responsibly steward the Earth, and as a bonus, can save ourselves time and money. Here are some of the best ways to garden successfully while restricting water use.

#1 Many of my web-site visitors as well as a large portion of my seed and plant customers will be familiar with my first tip- Mulch, Mulch, Mulch!

My favorite mulch is ground up dried leaves. We invested in a mulching lawn mower this year, so it is going to be even easier for my son to mow the leaves and bag them. I scour the neighbourhood each fall, collecting bags and bags of leaves that are placed out for garbage collection. It takes 2-3 bags of whole leaves to create a bag of ground-up leaves (size of corn flakes or smaller).

I mulch any area of bare earth before winter comes, and save several bags of ground-up leaves to use during the spring and summer. The leaves will break down quickly and provide a good nutritious feeding for your soil, as well as adding that all important organic fibre! In late spring, I water thoroughly, try to weed out all perennial weeds, and then mulch as thickly as I can around all my perennials and shrubs. By covering the earth, I help prevent weed seeds from germinating, and help prevent the soil from drying out.

I like the look of the finely ground leaves, sometimes, the leaves can be quite aromatic, and they are a pleasure to spread.

#2 Leave lawn clippings on the lawn. I haven't watered my front lawn at all this summer (It's the end of August), and my lawn is the only one on my street that still looks green. We have had the hottest and driest summer on record. One of the reasons it still looks presentable, is that we don't bag our lawn clippings, we mow with the bag off and let the lawn clippings stay on the grass. Now, I must admit, this year with the mulching mower, it is quite a treat not to have noticeable blades left lying around, but in previous years, if there were sizeable clippings left on the grass, we just raked them up, and used them for mulch in the garden. If you spread the clippings around thinly, they will dry quickly, and not produce any unpleasant odors. I also had my son raise the level of the blades one notch, so that we are mowing the grass a little higher.

#3 Ground covers. I tend to crowd my garden beds with probably too many plants, but it is a good principle to use low-growing, non-invasive plants under trees, shrubs and large perennials, to help prevent soil erosion , drying out, and to discourage weeds from getting established. The ideal ground cover is evergreen, shallow rooted, and either has interesting foliage, flowers or both.

#4 Grow drought-tolerant plants. More and more varieties of plants are becoming available that are quite drought-tolerant once established. Keep in mind, most plants will need to be watered regularily until the roots have had a chance to grow into their new surroundings (usually 2 weeks). I like to shade my newly planted perennials for a week or so with lawn chairs, large empty flower pots, umbrellas; you get the idea.

#5 Grow the right plant for the right place. Lack of water is a stress- if your plant is a shade lover, and you have planted it in full sun, it cannot survive both stresses. Some of the best plants for full dry sun, are Mediterranean natives- many of the herbs- lavenders, rosemary, artemisias, etc. They will often have thin, needle like or finely dissected foliage. Grey, silver and felty leaves are also another indication of sun and drought tolerant tendacies.

#6 Avoid containers. Plants whose roots are bound by the sides and bottom of small containers can dry out and die within days. The same plant in the ground can survive. Container plants will need daily watering during hot dry spells, and sometimes 2-3 X a day. For those containers you must have, add polymer crystals to your soil mix when potting up- these really do work- they will hold up to 200X their volume in water, so as the soil dries out they will release moisture.

#7 Increase the organic content of your soil. I have sandy soil, my Mother has clay soil. We both need to add organic amendments to our soils to increase its water-holding capacities. Compost, peat moss, dried leaves, hay (clean, not full of seeds), lawn clippings, sea weed, mushroom manure, and manure, will all help.