Helping your plants deal with drought
Plantswoman
| Posted in Pacific Northwest Gardening on
How do you help plants in your garden deal with the dry weather in the summer? We are all aware of using less water but there is a line of death drawn in the dry earth were plants will not survive. Ideas for keeping them alive?
Replies
Plant natives, xeric and Mediterranean plants that do much better with dry summers. If you must grow things that require regular water and have restrictions or prefer to conserve, hopefully you know to save as much of your household water to take outside to water your plants with. I find this to be cumbersome and I choose to just plant low water need plants. If you're concerned about established plants dying due to water issues, I have always said take care of your trees and large woody plants first, as they are the bones of your garden and will be the most missed and the most difficult to replace and take the longest time to regrow if replaced. Turn off your irrigation system and just run a slow soak around the drip line of these plants every week or two depending on their tolerance. This hopefully would save water and allow them to survive.
These are great ideas, thanks for sharing them. I find that my larger woody plants can survive on targeted water in a dry spell. One time every week if the temps are in the 80's. The rest of the time they are mulched well and get by with once a month deep water in established beds. New plantings and transplants get targeted (not broad sprays) water every couple of days until they get good roots into the soil. A watering can can do the trick on the new plants.