When Dry Spells Become Drought

 

Hello Friends,

The above photo is from a garden we toured. I love the creativity using the cattle water tank to create a fairy garden.

Speaking of creativity, my husband and I got creative in adding some rain collection areas around our garden. We have two totes that the covers are broken. Instead of tossing the totes we set them up under other areas of water run off. We have a rain barrel water collecting system, it works wonderful. But, we need more water. We added the totes to collect water by our greenhouse and another area of our house. We do a happy dance when we receive just a wee bit of rain because every drop counts as we collect the water. In fact we received .03 " of rain the other night. We did not think the gauge would even record it was so little. But that little amount filled the totes and re filled the rain barrels 25%... like I said we will take every drop we can get.

Our county is in a severe drought.  This is the second major dry year we have endured. Sadly, this summer of 2023 is getting really dry and we are starting to notice all the stress on the plants.  With the drought in mind, I decided to write my July article for the Cameron Chronicle about how to survive a drought and starting to think about growing drought tolerant plants.

 

When Dry Spells Become Drought

By Carla TePaske of Cameron WI ~ The Little Garden That Could

Long periods of hot weather, without rainfall, remind us that water is a precious commodity. There are many things that gardeners can do to prepare for periods of drought, such as conserving water, mulching beds and borders, and choosing drought tolerant plants.

We will break down the three things that we can do to prepare for dry spells in the garden. Starting with conserving rain water, install a rain barrel kit. You can find these at Menards, Amazon, Home Depot and local hardware stores. You can also find Do It Yourself Kits online and on You Tube.

Mulching is an easy way to prepare for dry spells. Mulch is a thick layer of material placed over the soil and around the plants. Mulch helps suppress weeds and lock moisture into the soil while acting as a physical barrier to drying winds and direct sun.

There is a wide variety of mulches to use. Natural mulches include leaves, bark, and grass clippings. You can also purchase a mulch such as landscaping fabric, carpet squares or rubber mulch made from recycled tires.

Preparing for dry spells in the garden also means having plants that will cope well during the dry spell. One solution is to start planting more drought tolerant plants in our gardens. Drought tolerant plants usually native to dry regions such as the Mediterranean, have evolved to thrive in dry soils with little rainfall. When visiting your local Garden Center ask about drought tolerant plants.

Until next time, happy gardening!