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Gardening With Dora
A long dry spell can be devastating to our summer gardens, but there are some steps we can take that will help at least a little. Heavy mulch is especially important right now. It will keep the ground cooler and retain a lot of the moisture that we have. It helps control weeds, too, and our drought-stressed plants don't need to have to compete with them for what little water is available. Be very careful when you water. Nearly all the water from an overhead sprinkler is a waste. It evaporates before it hits the ground. Unless we water very deeply we are doing our plants more harm than good since water on the surface will encourage existing roots to turn up and they will get killed. Soaker hoses that deliver water slowly and under the mulch are ideal. The universal wisdom is that one should water in the morning instead of the evening so plants don't go through the night with damp foliage. I ignore this mandate in drought conditions. The foliage will dry quickly when the air is as dry as it is now. Don't fertilize anything now. The last thing our plants need to do right now is to try to produce new growth. Don't prune either unless your plant is pushing the house over. Pruning encourages new growth, too. Even if we could get a shovel in the ground, planting anything now is out of the question. New plantings would have to be watered almost daily and who has the patience for that? Plant in late fall. It's so easy to get carried away in spring and plant shrubs that are so readily available in nurseries. Who can resist? Anything seems possible when the ground is damp as far down as we can dig and some of the plants we buy in April are even blooming. I did it with hydrangeas this year and they and I are both struggling right now. Our garden can be a teacher if we pay attention. Take note of the plants in your beds and borders that are thriving without additional water. Native plants that came to terms with our hot dry summers ages ago are a good choice for planting this fall. Plant labels will sometimes mention drought-tolerance as an attribute. Trees will often not show stress from lack of water until the following year. Water very deeply any you have planted in the last year or so even if they don't appear to need it. How distressing when they don't leaf out next spring when water isn't a problem. If we lived in Oregon or Washington we would be complaining about too much rain.
Dora Garrick Fleming is a Grove Hill native living and gardening in Winder, Ga.
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