Bird's Blanket Garden Border We have been given a gift with this drought. With our own eyes and in our own gardens, we can see which plants truly do well in a drought and which plants melt or shrivel up in the heat when we go a few days, or months, without rain. Sure, we could have skipped the whole drought experience and just googled "drought tolerant plants" and memorized lists of plants that others said were drought tolerant. Or checked in the dozens of books about plants that we no … [Read more...] about Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery 5) Choose New Plants
drought recovery
Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery 4) Freshen up your garden
A zinnia from 2011 Let's review where we are in our drought recovery program. If you are following along with the steps published so far, you should now have some goals, an assessment of your garden, and a quick hit task list. Now it's time to go down through the quick hit task list and actually *gasp* put on your garden gloves and do those tasks. You must face the garden, though it is dry, brown, dusty, and haggard looking and looks like it just survived the driest, … [Read more...] about Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery 4) Freshen up your garden
Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery: 3) Make a Quick Hit Task List
OSO EASY™ Cherry Pie Rosa 'Meiboulka' I'm shocked and delighted that these shrub roses in my garden are doing as well as they are doing, in spite of the lack of any real rain since May 1st. As I embarked on my drought recovery program, I spent some time assessing my garden over the weekend. When I got to this section of the garden, I wrote "shrub roses look pretty good but have some weeds nearby ready to encroach on their territory", or something like that. Notice that I didn't write … [Read more...] about Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery: 3) Make a Quick Hit Task List
Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery: 2) Assess Your Garden
Look how green & no watering! Still with me on drought recovery? Have you figured out your gardening goals? Yes? Good. Keep reading. After you've figured out what your goals for gardening are, your next step on the road we call drought recovery is to assess your garden. I know you've been hiding inside during the hot days, occasionally sticking your nose out the door to see if it still hot. Then you go out at dusk and water what you can before sighing heavily, turning off … [Read more...] about Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery: 2) Assess Your Garden
Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery: 1) Start with Goals
The grape vine seems to love the drought. We know with certainty that no gardener planted a garden with the hope that eventually she could water by hand day after day and still watch the plants die from lack of water. "Oh please, please, no rain. I like to provide all the water for my garden myself", was never spoken by any gardener that I've ever known. I know I didn't sign up for constant watering when I decided to be a gardener. (Yes, I know I decided to be a gardener when I was about … [Read more...] about Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery: 1) Start with Goals
Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery: Intro
Dear Hortense, Right now at 10:00 pm on the 25th day of July with an actual temperature of 91F and a "feels like" temperature of 96F, I declare that we have reached the dregs of this drought and it cannot get any worse. The ground is littered with what I like to call "drought droppings", mostly dried up leaves and flower petals that just could not hang on any longer and fell to the ground, no doubt stirring up some drought dust as they each silently hit the dirt. I hope no garden fairies … [Read more...] about Gardener’s Guide to Drought Recovery: Intro
