As we begin the summer months, dry conditions already exist, with long range forecasts predicting high temperatures right into September.
Long periods of dry weather can create some difficult conditions for gardeners, but there are some ways to minimize the effect on your landscape.
During this time it’s important to get water to plants and ensure the plants retain that water.
Proper soil is crucial to gardening without using large amounts of water. Soil with plenty of organic matter will hold moisture better than gritty, porous soils or clay compositions which allow little of the water to percolate to plant roots.
Mulch is one of the best methods to conserve precious moisture in the soil, and eliminating weeds. Mulch also eliminates weekly hoeing and cultivating, and when it does rain, the valuable water will percolate into the soft mulch cover rather than quickly run off the hardened soil crust.
Another method to help through times of drought is a rain barrel. These simple plastic barrels can be placed below your downspouts. It’s amazing how quickly they fill to capacity during one rainfall. If there are long periods between rain events, you can fill the barrel from a garden hose. The plants appreciate the air temperature water from the barrel rather than a cold shower from your water system. Most municipalities sell rain barrels at reasonable prices.
Water your garden deeply and less frequently. It’s better to give plants a good drink weekly or even every other week than to frequently apply less water. Deep watering encourages the roots to grow well down into the soil where it stays moist longer. Those plants watered often but not deeply will only send out shallow, surface roots that suffer in times of drought.
Water in the evening or the morning. In the middle of the day, water evaporates before it has had a chance to seep into the ground.
Many homeowners are now installing rainwater harvesting systems (RWH). A rainwater harvesting system combines a recirculating decorative water feature with a subsurface rainwater harvest storage system. This system filters the excess water from your eavetroughs and stores it for future use. We have installed a number of these systems. For more information, go to https://gelderman.com/blog/7/rainwater-harvesting.
