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Steve Allgeier |
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| Care for plants during drought |
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| By Steve Allgeier, Master Gardener |
Friday, October 09, 2009 |
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In Carroll and surrounding counties, the land is parched. If you're a gardener you can probably tell by looking at your own garden which plants are suffering the most. Individual plants respond to drought in various ways. Plants may slow or restrict their growth, wilt or curl up in response to lack of water. Most newly established plants and trees need about an inch or so of water per week; however, those that are established can get by with somewhat less.
Some plants, such as grass, become dormant after prolonged periods without water. It's nature's way of protecting the grass. The good news is that grass does grow back, so there's no need to water your lawn during a drought.
Here are some recommendations that may help deal with the current conditions:
If you are allowed to water, do so in the morning before 8 a.m. or the early evening when your plants will have the ability to take up water more efficiently than during hotter parts of the day. This will also minimize the amount of water lost by evaporation, saving it for your plants. Water deeply to encourage roots to grow deep, which in turn protects them from drought.
Mulch your plants. Even though it's midsummer, plants still benefit from having the ground around them protected from heat and sunlight, reducing the evaporation of water from the soil. Mulching has the added benefit that by keeping additional moisture in the soil, the surrounding plants have to compete less for water.
Perform "triage" on your garden, and decide what you can live without. For instance, if you have annuals, you may decide to let them fend for themselves without water. This includes vegetables such as tomatoes and zucchini. If you're a plant lover or someone who takes pleasure in watching your garden mature and evolve throughout the summer, this can be a tough decision. Take heart, drought is a natural phenomena letting the plants go is part of this process.
As a last resort, you can reuse "gray" water from your kitchen and bath to water your plants. However, don't apply gray water to edible vegetables, since it does contain salts that could be harmful.
Planning ahead
When you're planning what to do with your garden next year, think about the following strategies.
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First, mulch as many plants as possible, with the correct amount of material. This is typically 1 to 2 inches for most annuals and perennials, and about 2 to 4 inches for shrubs and trees. However, some people make the mistake of thinking the thicker you apply the mulch the better off the plants will be. In fact, over-mulching can prevent water from reaching the plants' roots. Also, you don't have to purchase bagged mulch for this to be effective. You can use grass clippings, straw, newspaper, stones - there is an abundance of suitable, low-cost materials available.
Second, consider building a rain collection system. Typically, 1 inch of rain will produce about 600 gallons of runoff for every 1000 square feet of collection area. This is a guilt-free way of keeping your precious garden going during dry spells.
Third, plant native or drought-resistant perennials such as bee-balm, purple coneflower, black-eyed susan, joe pye weed, and maidenhair fern. Native is important because it means the plant is well-equipped to sustain the climate variations in Maryland. Drought resistance is self-explanatory. And perennials are better-equipped to handle long dry spells because they have a more extensive root system than annuals.
Realistically, expect that not all of your plants will get through this drought unharmed, but with a little extra effort and planning you should be able to save more of your garden that would otherwise succumb to Mother Nature.
Steve Allgeier, home horticultural consultant with the Carroll County Cooperative Extension, is available to answer questions for the public from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at 410-386-2760 or hortman@umd.edu.
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blakenan wrote on May 7, 2009 4:31 PM: