How does your garden grow (without water)?
With all the strict restrictions on watering, how do you keep your garden alive? Do you have creative ways to come by water for your plants? What are they? We’re thirsting to know, and so are our readers!!
AJC.com > Gardening > Blog > Archives > 2006 > May > 25 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USThe dought hath struck — the garden’s fried
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The current dry spell is taking its toll on the spring garden. In the Cobb area, we haven’t had a significant rain in roughly a month. (Those of you in North Ga., be thankful you’ve gotten all those storms).
Now I’m paying the price along with a lot of my fellow gardeners having to lug hoses and watering cans around just to save the landscaping. I’m really kicking myself for not paying more attention to choosing plants that thrive in dry, hot weather. We’ve been fortunate over the past couple of years with adequate rain. This season is beginning to remind me of a few years back (2001?) when we had no-watering restrictions and the azaleas all burned up.
How are you coping with the drought? Are your tomatoes and veggies sagging? Are you watering or giving up? Buying replacements? Or, are you gloating because you’re in the part of town that has gotten rain.
UGA recommends the following plants for dry, hot conditions: periwinkle, moss rose, rudbeckia, stonecrop, gazania, globe amaranth, strawflower, cosmos and verbena. Those are all sunlovers.
Here is the full link to the UGA article on buying the right plants for dought conditions .
I’m going to pick up a few replacements for dead petunias. I think I’ll invest in moss roses this time!
Comments
By E. Lewis
May 25, 2006 03:22 PM | Link to this
The first year I was in my house, I went to a big chain home improvement store and bought all those beautiful plants and bulbs they were selling along with the needed supplies. A few hundred $$$, many man hours and a season later I had almost nothing.
It turns out that just because those big store in my area were selling it doesn’t mean it will grow in my yard. The nature of corporation retail doesn’t allow the stores to individualize enough.
I eventually found a small, local garden center, asked their advice and sure enough almost everything I tried survived.
By luna
May 25, 2006 03:38 PM | Link to this
I had a gorgeous palm on my balcony. For a year. Then I decided to repot it. Found a to-die-for pink tin tub at Target (my friends drilled 3 holes in the bottom) on sale so I finally repotted the palm. I ran out of the orig. dirt, of course, so I filled the space with dirt from my compost. The roots show a little, so now I think you can see where this is going…I have no clue in planting. Anything. Usually I buy flowers, etc. and try to keep them alive til they die. My balcony overlooks a courtyard and flowers on it look great…but I just don’t know what to do with a living plant. I live in N. Calif, so there’s a big diff in climate and water.
By Vicki
May 25, 2006 05:10 PM | Link to this
My garden is not turning crisp; it’s being eaten a live by the cute bunnies that burrow in my yard. Any ideas of how to deter my fuzzy friends?
By Theresa Guy
May 25, 2006 06:19 PM | Link to this
In regards to the comments by E. Lewis; I agree with them! I have found that the plants I have purchased that are not suitable to the Georgia climate can be maintained, however it takes a lot of work. I am constantly “spritzing” my garden as opposed to constatnly watering it. My plants do need alot of water, but I have found that over the top spritzing is essential. I spritz with a misting bottle early am, and I am fortunate enough to live with in 10 minutes of my office, so I spritz when I go home for lunch. I spritz before supper, then around 10pm when it is cool again, guess what? I spritz! It is always best to spritz in the early am and late pm when it is not as hot, so the plants can absorb the water better, but if you can do it or find someone to do it for you, they love that misty drink in the middle of the day. It is hardwork and I will select different plants next time, however, all of the time I have put into my planters, pots, and flower beds is paying off. I get lots of compliments from my neighbors, and I should! It is however, very time consuming, but I am not “dead-heading” as much as before.
By William J. Harding
May 25, 2006 11:40 PM | Link to this
My tomatoes,cucumbers,peppers,collards, cabbage,beans, corn, turnips, radish,peas and squash are all on schedule.My okra is a little slow. I am replanting spanach and carrots. I am allowing some of the ground covering grass to remain in place to hold the moisture. Watering is being done in late evening and at night.
FOR THE BUNNIES, GO TO HOME DEPOT AND PICK UP SOME DEER OFF. AND ACCORDING TO WANDA,TONJA AND BEATH I COULD SPRINKLE SOME RED GROUND PEPPER AROUND VARIOUS AREAS.IT WORKED LAST YEAR.
By Stan
May 26, 2006 07:37 PM | Link to this
I have only had to water once this year, and that was mostly to protect recently planted material. Here are some tips.
Use drought tolerant plants, and there are more of them than you may think. Try succulents (stonecrop, ice plant), most ornamental grasses, lantana, plants with silvery foliage (lambs ear, yarrow, dusty miller), coneflower, juniper. Also, almost all bulbs, rhizomes and tubers will survive even severe drought if planted in the fall, which brings us to number
Plant/transplant perennials in the fall. This will give roots a good head start, and you don’t really have to water at all.
Start plants from seeds. Yes, nothing beats the instant gratification of a container grown plant, but the smaller your plant is when established, the more hardy it will be. If seeds are not an option, use smaller container grown plants (a 1 gallon instead of a 3 gallon).
Mulch, mulch, mulch.
Good luck!
By J. Marks
May 26, 2006 11:37 PM | Link to this
No problems here in Loganville GA. This is my first year in my new home. I always wanted to grow a garden. I now have several. Nothing drooping…or dying. (knock on wood) I thoroughly research the entire project. Amending the soils…composting, sun and shade perennials…I also looked into Xeriscaping. Almost every plant I own is drought tolerant! My VERBENA is the envy of my neighborhood, w/ colors of purple, white, red and pink!
By S. Vernon
May 30, 2006 12:35 PM | Link to this
It seems my container garden needs watering every day these days. I used the wonderful book “Gardening Around Atlanta” to choose most of my plants this season. I’ve been very happy but they do get droopy in the afternoon. I get full sun on our porch. My marigolds and geraniums seem especially wilty by the end of a long, hot, sunny afternoon. Any ideas? Did I just pick the wrong plants??
By Larry
May 31, 2006 02:04 AM | Link to this
I’ve also had good success with Vinca, Salvia, Verbena, Sedum, Lantana, and Geraniums (all drought tolerant). The key to surviving a harsh summer is to make a small earthen “dam” around each plant so that when you water the plant it will “pool up” and has a chance to absorb into the root system instead of draining off (don’t forget the mulch). A little bit of extra work when planting, but well worth the result of a flowering garden all summer long.
By Renae
May 31, 2006 04:00 PM | Link to this
Thankfully the only thing that’s keeping my garden alive is it partially shaded from the direct sun. But I do have to keep plenty of water on it for moisture and my grass is holding on but again I have to water almost everyday for a couple of hours in the evening.