W A T E R W I S E
Gardening
Water only when plants need watering. Water less frequently and deeply. Early morning watering is best – there is less loss due to evaporation and the leaves will dry faster reducing the invitation for fungal disease. Most established herbaceous perennials only need about an inch of water once every one or two weeks.
Add organic matter. Add 2 – 3 inches of organic mulch to cover your beds and add a heaping handful of organic material as you prepare a hole for new plantings. Organic matter helps aerate clay soils and holds in moisture in sandy soils. It also breaks down to enhance the soil.
Treat the planet, yourself, your garden, your community, and your checkbook to a waterwise garden. A waterwise garden has three zones for plantings with similar requirements. The Oasis zone is nearest the water source and includes areas such as window boxes, containers, and entrance gardens. The closer to the water source, the easier it is to water. These planting areas can hold your thirstiest plants. The Transitional zone is for areas that have plantings that require water only during the driest of times. And the Xeric zone is for plants in areas furthest from a water source that require no supplemental water.
Eliminate thirsty plants dotted around the garden beds. Journey through your garden with a notebook. Draw a line down the middle of the page \’96 one side entitled KEEP and the other side entitled QUIT. Mourn your losses and then move on. Evaluate each plant’s needs within its location. Move thirsty plants to the Oasis zone, give them away, or use for compost. Also evaluate what did well and then plant more of those achievers.
Reduce lawn size or switch to low maintenance grasses. Consider going Dormant for the Moment. Choose not to water thirsty grasses; let them go dormant. They will return when the rains return.
Water the ground, not the plants. Use an end-of-hose sprayer, drip irrigation, soaker hoses, or watering can saturate the ground and leave the leaves dry.
Improve potting soil mixes. Incorporate water-retaining polymers into the potting soil for your container gardens. They really make a difference.
Save your water. Add rain barrels. An inch of rain from a 1,000 square foot roof will give you 602 gallons of water. Figure the water will run down the spouts evenly from your home. If you have four drain spouts, divide 600 by 4 to get 150 gallons per drain spout. This will flow into your rain barrel with overflows directed to other parts of your garden specifically your Oasis zone.
Evolve with the planet. As our climate changes, change with it.
Helen Yoest is a garden writer and coach through her business Gardening with Confidence™
Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenYoest and her facebook friend’s page, Helen Yoest or Gardening With Confidence™ Face Book Fan Page.
Helen also serves on the board of advisors for the JC Raulston Arboretum
There is a lot of talk about zonal denial, micro-climates, and changes in our zones due to global warming. If you are a risk taker and know your garden well, then by all means push the limits with your gardening zone. In my garden, Helen’s Haven, Zone 7b in Raleigh, North Carolina, I no longer take these risks. I’m perfectly happy in the zone I own. I know plenty of folks that plant zone 8 and even zone 9 plants in our zone 7b gardens and are thrilled with their success, even if it may be short lived. I use to, but don’t anymore. I find it is even risky planting plants on the zone’s edge. Ideally, I like to wrap a zone around a plant, putting me into choosing plants for zone 7a, but not always. This year, I will be replacing a Clematis armandii, zoned for our 7b gardens. But, alas, we had a particularly hard winter.
We need to accept the soil we’re dealt or be prepared to amend. I have yet to garden in perfect soil, and still, I find gardening success. I’m a heavy amend-er and believe in the power of mulch. In our area of the Piedmont region of North Carolina, there is clay and sand. In the heart of Raleigh, where I am, it is all clay. As you move outside of Raleigh, you’ll find sandy soil. So when I read a plant label that recommends planting in well drained soils, I know they are not talking to me. But planting these plants in my garden is a risk I’m willing to take. Why? Because here I have some control; I can amend my soil. I have amended all my garden beds, one planting hole at a time. Adding composted leaf mulch or other organic matter to the hole and blending it with the clay with some added insurance of a permanent clay buster such as PermiTil, I can make my sticky clay soil friable. In any garden soil type, you cannot go wrong adding more organic matter. Then top dress the garden beds with a lush, thick layer of mulch each year to moderate the soil temperature, suppress weeds, retain water and generally tiding up the garden. By doing so, you’ll have a happy garden.
The last thing I want to do is deny myself is a plant based on watering needs. But I’m also prudent. I garden water wisely. By that I mean, I have my gardens grouped into three watering zones: Oasis, Transitional, and Xeric. I’m also fortunate in that I have most sun types covered in each of my watering zones. When I garden shop, the plants watering needs are a high priority for me. But because my garden is designed in zones, it narrows down where I will plant it in the garden. This also makes my garden purchases easy. I wont waste money on a thirsty plant requiring shade if the only area in my Oasis zone is sun. Also, it allows me to have a mental map of my garden with me at all times. I do not want to spend any more time than I have to on watering. The thought of dragging a hose around, past 10 drought tolerant plants to reach one thirsty plant is not part of my makeup. I’m way smarter than that.
complement to the rose bushes.
Gardening with confidence can be achieved with one simple mantra: Right plant for the right place. Seems simple enough. Yet, not following this mantra is often times why gardening goals are not met. Here’s my take on right plant, right place. Understanding these five essential elements will help you garden with confidence.
success, even if it may be short lived. I use to, but don’t anymore. I find it is even risky planting plants on the zone’s edge. Ideally, I like to wrap a zone around a plant, putting me into choosing plants for zone 7a, but not always. This year, I will be replacing a Clematis armandii, zoned for our 7b gardens. But, alas, we had a particularly hard winter.
watering zones. When I garden shop, the plants watering needs are a high priority for me. But because my garden is designed in zones, it narrows down where I will plant it in the garden. This also makes my garden purchases easy. I won’t waste money on a thirsty plant requiring shade if the only area in my Oasis zone is sun. Also, it allows me to have a mental map of my garden with me at all times. do not want to spend any more time than I have to on watering. The thought of dragging a hose around, past 10 drought tolerant plants to reach one thirsty plant is not part of my makeup. I’m way smarter than that.
Helen’s Haven is a half acre garden – more garden areas than grass. Even with 20 cubic yards and laying the mulch 3 inches thick, I could have used more. I suspected this, so I went about prioritizing the areas to receive it. As such, I’m OK in the areas that didn’t get it. Without this planning, I would have just ran out and, no doubt, would have needed some more in important areas just to finish up.
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