Is it your summer drought? You don’t have to sit back and accept what Mother Nature has to offer – you can soften the effects of dry weather on your garden.
It’s time to start preparing for the drought, but now plans are in place. Preparation begins with the soil. Any type of organic material – leaves, straw, grass, compost, manure, straw, grass clippings – will help your garden to withstand dry seasons. (“Organic materials” are things that existed or once existed.)
And mix these materials into the soil. Do not bury them under it. In sandy soils, organic matter acts like a sponge to hold water. In clay soils, organic matter opens up air gaps and promotes extensive root systems.
As plants grow, these same organic matter prevents them from evaporating on the ground like water. (Except for a layer of sand that dries to a rain-resistant layer.) Fill the cover every year and don’t even dig it. Earthworms drag it into the soil. In fact, I no longer dig organic matter into my soil. Not for a total of 30 years.
Any material can be placed on the soil to test for evaporation. Black plastic film or landscape cloth is commonly used. And a friend of mine laid the floor, what else? Carpet! However, these non-organic materials have weaknesses, and do not provide the soil with many other benefits that organic materials do, such as introducing beneficial microbes, helping to feed plants, and improving the soil structure.
Some plants starve
Now turn to the plants: If you live in a dry winter, you can only grow drought-tolerant plants. You don’t have to limit yourself to cactii and yucca, though.
Many well-known garden plants are drought tolerant, to some extent. These include shrubs such as pine, prune, potash, bottoms, sweeteners, nine bars, and pineapple viburnum. During the year, you can choose from Cosmos, Marigold, Nicotana, Portolaka, Sunflower, Zinia, and those that use it for dried flowers such as Celosia, Gomerrena, Strawberry and State. Many years of drought tolerance include yaro, butterfly weed, corpopsy, papyrus, confluence, sediment and infant respiration.
Ornamental grasses, such as Pampas grass and Blue Passover, are drought tolerant. Most grasses survive drought in anticipation of wet weather, but they are greedy water users if they want to stay green.
No need to leave vegetables. Even cucumbers, melons, okra, pumpkins, and tomatoes have enough water to harvest their fruits. Drought really improves the taste of tomatoes.
Use water wisely and take care of it
In addition to plant selection, the way you grow helps alleviate drought.
Reducing fertilizer reduces water use because small plants use less water. In the same way that salty potato chips are extracted from your lips, fertilizer can make the drought worse.
When your time or water is limited, water your plants first. Provide garden and flower buds and newly planted trees and shrubs with the first DB on the water. Also water-resistant plants, such as lettuce, delphinium and roses.
In general, when making water, apply very rarely. Measured in a vertical container, here it translates to “1” of water by spraying “a lot”. If you water with your hands, about three-quarters of a gallon once a week, the same amount.
Alternatively, apply only a small amount of water, but do it often. This is a “drop irrigation” system where special liquids automatically drip near each plant. In addition to water, water moves horizontally through the soil. Therefore, it is not necessary for each imager to be near plants. There is a lot of clay in the soil, and more pathogens can be planted if it is thirsty – even two feet in clay soil.
Add tap water to barrels or basins with tap water or tap water from your kitchen sink. Collecting soil in small basins around trees and shrubs catches rainwater catchment.
Even though slides are now slipping in the wet and rainy weather, your garden may be dry in a few weeks. Be prepared.
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Lee Reich regularly writes for the Associated Press. He authored a number of books, including the “Weed Garden” and the “Trimming Book.” He blogs at http://www.leereich.com/blog. It can be reached at garden@leereich.com.
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