Garden Thirsty? Drought Tips for Your Plants.

Garden Thirsty? Drought Tips for Your Plants.
  • Opening Intro -

    This summer has been a hot one, with records set from sea to shining sea.

    The nation’s midsection, particularly Texas, has battled with a withering drought, as daily temperatures above 100 degrees and no rain have translated into major losses for farmers and homeowners alike.

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It may be too late to save your garden, but if you still can find some color, then you may have something left to work with. Watering can be expensive, but so can replacing hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars of valuable plants and landscaping.

Going forward, you may want to replace some if not all of your plants with drought resistant plants especially if your town restricts watering and getting sufficient rain year in and year out isn’t something you can rely upon.

One way for you to find the right plants for your garden is to contact your state’s extension service, which is designed to help farmers and homeowners with things like soil conditions and plant selection. State agricultural colleges typically run these departments with extension offices located across your state.

You can also visit select websites to find out the information you need. Floridata, a photographic encyclopedia of landscape plants that isn’t managed by the state of Florida, offers some excellent examples of plants that can survive drought conditions. Of course, some plants are more suitable for the conditions faced in the Sunshine State, but many featured plants can find a home across much of the US.

Barring a readily available list, what can the homeowner do to keep his or her garden from certain demise. Several things including:

Choosing native plants

— Plants that are native to your area have a better chance at survival then introduced species. Such plants are “familiar” with your area’s water vagaries and can withstand prolonged periods of no rain. These plants are also better able to resist disease. Importantly, native wildlife is attracted to native species.

Reroute gray water

— Gray water, a term describing water that isn’t drinkable, but still reusable, can help keep thirsty gardens alive. Water from your dishwasher or washing machine can qualify provided that you don’t use toxic chemicals to clean clothes and dishes. A plumber can hook up a line to send your water outside, allowing you to water the lawn or garden.

Employ xeriscaping

— You never heard of xeriscaping? It is a relatively new term, one that is a portmanteau of landscaping and xeros, the latter a Greek word for dry. Besides simply using native plants, xeriscaping goes one step further: it balances plants with rainfall retention, thus avoiding the need for irrigation.

Other measures you can take is making good use of mulch and, if you must water, carefully choosing the times of the day to water when evaporation is not a big issue.

Consumer Travel reference:

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Last update on 2020-03-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

 

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Categories: Home Improvement

About Author

Matthew C. Keegan

Matt Keegan is a freelance writer and editor as well as publisher of "Matt's Musings", his personal blog. Matt covers campus, consumer, business and financial topics on various websites and blogs, and has been published in the "Houston Chronicle", "Sam's Club Magazine" and "Wisconsin Golfer".