It is raining this morning as I write this—a light, gentle sprinkle that began sometime after midnight.
The wind is carrying the rain through the screen onto my floor, but I shall not shut out the music of the falling drops by closing the door. It is the most wonderful sound we have heard in months.
A few minutes ago, I scandalized my children by going outside to feel and smell the wetness. Only a gardener who has lived through a long summer drought can understand my delight!
Since there will be no need to water for one day at least, this lovely storm I hear outside gives me a chance to evaluate our drought program.
We have made a few mistakes, but generally speaking, we have done fairly well, and our experiences may help you if you are unfortunate enough to undergo similar conditions in your garden.
Dealing With Prolonged Drought
Our four-month drought has been catastrophic for the farmers hereabouts, and even this perfect day cannot save their parched crops. But the home gardener has an easier task.
Two rules are basic when dealing with a prolonged drought.
First, you must recognize it early in the game. Second, you must decide just what you will save and stick to a regular program of artificial watering for the duration or at least as long as your water supply lasts.
Naturally, it is impossible to say how long any drought may extend. If, however, two weeks elapse in late spring without any rainfall, your plantings need help. If the drought is soon broken, you have done only a little extra work.
On the other hand, if the drought becomes serious and dry weather seems to be more of the same until seasonal temperature changes take over—you will be in a better position to fight it.
Extra Watering For Dry Weather
The extra watering dry weather demands will consume much of your gardening time and add alarmingly to your water bill if you have no well. Moreover, as the drought lengthens, water conservation will become an important matter all by itself.
Luckily, our reservoirs were full last spring, so we could draw water as needed in the beginning. Unfortunately, those with wells were not so fortunate. As the drought wore on, we, too, learned to conserve water.
We took shorter showers and shallower baths and avoided running faucets unnecessarily. We poured clean dishwater into the garden, not down the drain. On wash day, we carried buckets of rinse water outside.
These were merely asides, however, to the main task— finding the easiest, most efficient way to keep our best greenery alive until the rains came.
Aiding Trees and Shrubs
Our first concern was to aid our trees and shrubs since they are our greatest asset and the hardest to replace.
Our method was cultivating around each, lowering the earth’s surface by about an inch, and building a dike from the extra soil around the plant.
This small, man-made pond was mulched. As a result, it could be filled with water in a short time with no waste of water.
As the dry months rolled by, we tried to give each established tree and bush a thorough soaking every ten days.
By filling the small pond around a planting several times quickly, we got water into the subsoil where it was needed. The bottom of the pond was stirred to ensure water and air absorption.
Root Watering
We found that root watering was another valuable method of giving the plants a drink during the drought.
No water is wasted, and all the water goes to the roots, where it does the most good. At first, we just dug small holes around the plants and filled them with water.
Then late in July, we bought a root-watering device. You just attach the hose to it, insert it in the soil, turn on the hose, and presto, the plant is watered.
Dogwood
Our largest dogwood early showed the effects of no rain, and we resorted to a dry well and drained it to help it survive and keep it from competing with the plants which grew in its shade.
We dug a hole about 2 feet square and 2’ feet deep on the side of the tree, which appeared to suffer the most.
The bottom of the pit was filled with small stones, a 2-foot piece of drainpipe was placed upright atop these, and stones were wedged around the sides of the pipe to a height of 1’ foot.
The remaining foot of the pipe was surrounded by tamped earth, and a strainer was set on the top end of the drain to keep out soil and animals.
Temporary Drought Solution
Every week this drain was filled with water, which required a tremendous amount of precious stuff.
At other times a slowly dripping hose was left on the strainer. As a result, that tree is in better shape today than it was at this time last year after a wet summer!
The drought worsened, and we were forced to decide where to put our water for the greatest good.
We sacrificed a green lawn and concentrated on the trees, shrubs, and perennials. As a result, the lawn is severe and in bad shape.
Still, it will be easier to patch it with grass seed this fall than to replace the dogwoods, the private hedge, or the climbing roses that stretch for yards along the back fence.
The tomatoes and dahlias were given earth dikes tools, so watering them was cut to a minimum. They are lush and green, although the tomatoes are small, and the dahlias (dwarfs) wilt when first picked.
There were no grass clippings for mulch, for our lawns have been cut only once since late May. Instead, we used a bale of peat moss to help along some Crego asters and perennials.
We utilized privet clippings and branches from our baptisia hedge as mulch for the tomatoes. Eventually, we resorted to mulching with whatever weeds were hardy enough to sprout.
Most of the perennial seedlings for next year have not been set out in the garden yet. Some are still in the house in flats. Others sit in the same condition under the shade of a big tree.
They have not grown much, but they are all alive. We are counting on the autumnal equinox to bring rainy days to aid our fall transplanting.
I am ashamed to admit we did not mulch adequately during the early part of the season. Our summer mulching has always been pretty haphazard, but up until now, this has not seemed to make much difference. Now we know better.
Had we mulched adequately initially, we could have saved ourselves so much time and water. Our plants would have been healthier too.
Starting Summer Mulch
From now on, we shall start distributing summer mulch as soon as the spring transplanting is over. After that, grass clippings, hay, old weeds, compost, and leaves will go on the beds in the cutting, vegetable, and experimental plots.
We shall try to put enough peat moss into the budget to protect the beds where appearance is too important for an unsightly mulch.
We shall remember that plots that had been freshly cultivated absorbed every drop of water, while those which were baked hard drank nothing.
The parts of the perennial garden where gaillardias, eupatorium, extra daisies of several kinds, physostegia, and achillea are in possession have been let go.
Those are robust, weedy flowers; aside from occasional wind spray, they have been neglected. They look awful, but I expect they will survive.
One bed of tiny perennial seedlings has been sprayed continually. The plants are small and scattered. They should have been shaded, but there never seemed time.
We gave all bushes and trees a leaf bath by pointing the hose at the foliage full force whenever their turn came for a good drink of water. This cut transpiration through the leaves while they were being watered, washed away the dust, and fought the red spiders, which are rampant this summer.
To conserve water, we did almost no mechanical sprinkling except where the runoff was nonexistent. This meant our main summer diversion was hours with the hose in hand. But we had no choice.
A Good Summer Watering Program
Unless we have steady rains during autumn, the aftermath of four waterless summer months will be felt well into the winter.
Our irrigation program will not be terminated until we are sure all trees, shrubs, and perennials go into their dormant period with plenty of water.
I suspect I shall be filling the small ponds around the plantings during mitten weather, especially in the case of the evergreens, which continue to lose moisture through their foliage on every sunny or windy winter day.
When one remembers that the lilac and dogwood buds for spring flowering are already formed by the preceding fall, one realizes the importance of a good summer watering program, even during years of normal rainfall. Drought conditions make such a program necessary.
Making your water go as far as possible becomes even more important. It’s not enough to sprinkle trees and bushes; they must be well and deeply watered.
Our Dikes Have Made This an Easier Task
Since our perennial border is partly on a slope, we created our system of terraced dikes for that part of the garden.
The hill is pockmarked with small holes, each on the top side of a plant. The water collects in the holes, then seeps into the lower soil around the plants.
This enables us to get water deeper into the soil faster with less runoff. The border will continue to get water until frost.
Already I have made two resolutions for every summer from now on: I shall mulch thoroughly during the early part of the season no matter what, and I shall build a lath shade for my seedlings.
These safeguards will make my summer gardening chores much easier, cut down the watering needed, and ensure more even and healthy growth.
Seedlings need constant watering in hot weather until they take off, but the lath shading will give them a much quicker, safer start and protect them from wilting in the heat.
Next year I shall be prepared.
44659 by Bebe Miles