WATER-WISE GARDENING
Choosing to plant drought-tolerant shrubs and perennials in parts of the garden destined for low-maintenance care, or along edges or banks that are watered only occasionally, is a key feature of waterwise gardening.
As you shape a new garden or plan for changes in an existing one, keep in mind that it simplifies garden management immensely to group plants with similar moisture requirements together. Areas closest to the house, or places that are otherwise easy to water, are the best locations for plants with high water requirements. If little water is available for the garden, plant in containers, preferably plastic, or in small areas of concentrated growth.
Where water supplies are low or watering restrictions severe, consider reviving the old-time rain barrel. Water can be diverted from the roof into such holding areas. Keep rain barrels and other garden water containers covered to eliminate evaporation. A few drops of oil will discourage mosquitoes from breeding in the water.
The Soil
Soil quality plays a huge role in waterwise gardening. A soil that is rich in humusy organic matter will have the well-aerated, porous texture that the majority of plants need to grow in health. It will also possess a substantial sponginess for holding on efficiently to moisture and nutrients.
Plants in a healthy, fertile soil not only grow fast and vigorously. They also develop the strongest and largest root systems possible for their type, which gives them a superior ability to access available moisture. Studies have shown that less water is required to produce a pound of plant matter where soils are fertilized than where they are not fertilized.
Mulching
Healthy plants, products of a fertile, humus-rich soil, will have an enhanced tolerance to drought. Plants can be further drought-proofed with the judicious use of mulches. The time to apply mulching materials around plants and between rows is after the soil warms thoroughly in spring.
To avoid creating a happy haven for a zillion wood bugs, earwigs and slugs, use very thin layers only of loose materials such as chopped straw. Grass clippings placed in shallow layers add nitrogen to the soil as they decompose. Mix grass clippings or another source of nitrogen with aged sawdust to counteract the temporary nitrogen-depleting action of sawdust on the soil.
Organic mulches do more than help to retain moisture. Cultivated or dug into the soil at the end of the season, they improve the soil's texture and fertility.
Compost
For soil enrichment, compost is the perfect mulching material. To have enough of this precious resource to serve the garden adequately, compost everything from the garden that will break down.
Chop, cut, or shred the materials into the smallest pieces possible and balance dried, brown plant parts with fresh, young green weeds, row thinnings and grass clippings as nitrogen sources to kick-start composting microorganisms into a frenzy of feeding on the drier matter.
Keep compost heaps moist but not wet, and fluff them up or mix them around often with a compost tool or long-handled garden fork to introduce the fresh air that will further energize the heap's microscopic workers.
Green manures
Planting green manure or cover crops is a way of on-site composting to enrich the soil's humus content and fertility and improve its water retention. Fall rye and winter green manure mixtures are available for sowing in autumn and digging under in late winter.
Buckwheat is a warm season cover crop that is ideal for sowing in empty areas in spring and summer. It grows rapidly, and the flowers attract bees and feed beneficial insects. Chop down and dig buckwheat into the soil before the plants go to seed.
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