As we enter the hottest part of the year, gardeners start to become concerned with drought issues. This has especially been the case in recent years as drought-and-flood cycles have been getting worse and worse. These droughts don’t have to devastate your garden or drive your water bill through the roof, though. Wise plant selection, proper watering techniques, and recycling water can make the squeeze in the hot months much less painful for you and your plants.
The first thing to consider to save water in drought conditions is plant selection. There are multitudes of different drought-tolerant plants available. You can find plants with low water requirements to fill almost any need in your garden, and many of these plants are stunning. Perennials are often a better choice for droughts, as they will tend to develop deeper, better root structures capable of more efficiently taking up water, especially once they mature. Don’t forget to mulch or plant ground cover plants over exposed ground areas, as these will help to slow evaporation from the soil.
Secondly, you need to water properly. Timing your watering sessions makes a huge difference in how efficient they are. Early morning is best by far, as that is when the heat is least, minimizing evaporation. It also helps to prevent the fungal problems that evening watering can contribute to. Avoid midday watering whenever you can, as that will allow the least amount of water to get into your plants, where it is needed. It is also important to water deeply and infrequently. Shallow daily watering causes plants to develop shallow, weak roots, which doesn’t allow them to take up water as efficiently and contributes to a variety of other problems. Deep waterings with days in between, however, will encourage plants to seek water with deep, healthy roots. When watering, use direct methods. Sprinklers waste a great deal of water and can cause fungal problems on plant leaves. It is better to water directly at the roots with buckets, watering cans, a hose, or even drip irrigation. Hand-watering is often less wasteful than automated methods are.
Finally, water capture and recycling methods can be the icing on your water-conservation cake. The simplest thing to do is to build or purchase a rain barrel under the gutters of your home, capturing for garden use the rainwater that would normally be shuffled off into storm drains or streams. You can also use pans or buckets under your container plants to capture overflow when you water them to be used on other plants. If you pay attention, you will likely find many ways that you can save water around the garden.
Water conservation in the garden doesn’t have to be a difficult or expensive endeavor. In fact, it can be easy to create a beautiful, inexpensive, and water-efficient landscape if you are simply mindful of these considerations when designing and maintaining your garden.
Thomas Andrews is a garden writer for Wayside Gardens and the Wayside Gardens Voices blog. One of America’s premier mail-order and online horticulture companies, Wayside Gardens has specialized in the world’s finest unusual, rare, and hard-to-find plants since 1916, including a wide selection of high-quality Drought-Tolerant Perennial Plants.
Author: Thomas Andrews
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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