Five Easy Steps To Gardening In A Drought

There is much talk about drought across the western provinces this summer. While it changes the way we do things, drought does not mean we have to give up on having a thriving food garden, or even one's colourful flower garden. However, it does mean changing how we do things, doing a wee bit of preplanning, and adopting some of these sustainable gardening techniques.

Waterwise gardening tips to take your garden through the rising temperatures, heat domes, heat waves, watering restrictions, and drought conditions.

Brand new raised beds. Compost was added to the existing soil.

Step #1 - Improve Soil Texture With Organic Matter.

Adding compost, manure, or leaf mould, to your soil will improve the soil texture which helps to retain more moisture in the soil, especially in sandy soils, plus it add nutrients to feed your flowers and vegetables. Even heavy clay soils benefit from organic matter as the compost improves aeration to better the root growth of your plants.

Add compost or manure rather than peat moss. Peat adds no nutritional value, is a non-renewable resource, and is quite acidic. Only use peat if you are planting blueberries, as they need acidic soil to thrive, but add a bit of compost, too.

Digging in the organic matter is not required, the matter can just be layered on top of the bed and the elements will disperse it through the soil. If you have poor soil and want to plant into it right after amending, scratch the compost into the soil with a rake or a tined cultivator hoe.

The greenhouse was layered with compost in the autumn, after garden clean up. Ready to plant up in spring.

Adopting the no-dig gardening method will vastly improve your soil texture and water retention, and the health of your plants. Layer some compost over your bed (1 to 2 inches) in fall after your garden clean up has been done.

Step #2 - Water Efficiently.

Water deeply at the roots. Use weeping/soaker hoses or install drip systems to get the water at soil level so the water gets right where it is needed.. at the roots. There will be no water loss due to evaporation or runoff.

I use these flat weeping hoses that look like a woven fabric has been sewn over an inner tube. The 50 foot long hoses will nicely water a 12'x4' bed. Do not use the black, round, rubber weeping hoses as they are apt to blow holes, resulting in water waste and possible damage to your soil or plants.

Water less often. Plants require a lot less water than we might think. In times of drought, is prudent to water less often but deeply (6 to 8 inches) so that the soil remains damp at the root zone for longer. Plants will grow longer, stronger root systems to go deep for the water, which in turn gives you healthier, sturdier plants that will survive water restrictions. Shallow daily watering creates weaker plants with surface roots.

Hand watering - If you have an allotment garden, or farm garden, where it is not possible to set up weeping hoses, spot watering deeply with a watering can is equally efficient.

Use ollas (take a regular clay pot, use a cork to plug up the hole in the bottom, sink it into the garden bed, fill with water, place the saucer on top) or clay watering stakes ( that you place a bottle of water into) to slowly wick water into the garden, or your pots.

Water priorities - Give thirsty plants like tomatoes and cucumbers water twice a week, root vegetables and squash just once a week. Drought tolerant annual flowers like cosmos, zinnias and sunflowers require just one good drink a week.

Well established perennial flowers, perennial vegetables, raspberries, fruiting shrubs, herbs, will require water once or twice a month.

Established trees, shrubs, native plants, and drought tolerant perennials are watered very rarely. Water if you see wilting or leaf drop.

Timing - Water in the morning, early mornings are best. Avoid watering in late evening as that may cause powdery mildew and other fungal issues. If you have a timer, set it to go off around 4 am. If you cannot get to the garden in the morning, water early in the evening so that the plants and leaves are not wet going into the night. Water at soil level to keep foliage dry.

Antique boiler bins collect rainwater from the greenhouse roof.

Step #3 - Collect Water & Use Grey Water.

Set up water barrels to collect water from sheds, greenhouses, and homes. Lids or screens keep small animals from falling in, plus collect debris to keep your water clean. Asphalt shingles are generally considered safe to collect irrigation water from for all your garden plants, including edibles.

My veggie washing stand in the potager. I collected the 'dirty' water in a bucket under the sink.

Collect grey water, dishwashing water, cooking water, bathwater, and veggie washing water. Avoid using the water if using a lot of soap or products with additives.

This old veggie washstand was made with an old Ikea cutting board island. We removed the cutting board and placed in a sink from the Habitat for Humanity Restore. No need to go buy anything though. A wash basin on an outdoor table works just fine for washing the worst of the soil and grit off the veggies. Save that water for your plants.

Arborist mulch nearly a foot deep was laid around the young fruit trees.

Step #4 - Mulch to Retain Moisture.

Mulch flower beds, trees and shrubs with leaves, straw, or bark chips. Lay down 4 to 6 inches of mulch to actually make a difference in moisture retention.

The very best mulch is arborist wood chips. Yes, that pile of twigs, green wood, pine or spruce needles is the best mulch for your gardens.

This mulch will break down rather quickly to provide nutrients for your plants, supresses weeds, improves soil structure, keeps the roots cool in summertime, helps prevent disease, and best of all, retains water and prevents evaporation.

Other organic mulches to use are aged straw, chopped straw for pet bedding, shredded wood chips, composted pine bark, shredded leaves, grass clippings in light layers, wood shavings from pet bedding.

A fig tree with deep arborist chips around it for moisture retention.

Make sure to not bring it right up to the trunk of the tree or the base of the perennial. Leave a few inches of space all the way around.

Also, do not dig this in. Digging in wood or fresh organic matter will tie up the nitrogen in the soil as it breaks it down, robbing your garden of nitrogen. Just layer it on top.

Organic mulch for your vegetable garden - light layers of grass clippings (if you do not use chemicals on your lawn). Spread evenly around your beds, let the grass dry before adding another layer. Straw and shredded leaves are also good. To prevent diseases, do not mulch during the rainy season (on the coast) or in spring while the ground is still cool.

You can also mulch with compost or manure. This does not help as much with water retention as it does with preventing your soil from becoming hydrophobic (water repellent).

This bed had become very weedy so I planted my tomatoes through landscape fabric to keep the weeds at bay.

Inorganic mulches for your vegetable gardens can be landscape fabric or cardboard laid on top of the soil. Not as attractive to look, until the plants fill in to hide it all, but retains moisture very well, and keeps weeds at bay, as well.

Ground cover plants helps keep in moisture, as well. No bare soil! Wood mulch and Creeping Jenny ground cover in this bed means I rarely have to water in summer.

Potted Plants - To extend the time in between watering your flowers or vegetables in pots and planters, they too can be mulched up to help them dry out slower.

Using the clay watering spikes in your pots will keep them thriving while you go camping for the weekend. These stakes can also be used in your vegetable garden, beside your tomatoes, cucumbers, or melons.

10 piece plant watering stakes

8 owl watering stakes

10 pack plant watering spikes

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Plant everything a bit closer together so there is no bare soil.

Step #5 - Intensive Planting

Plant flower and vegetable beds closer together to help prevent water evaporation. Bare soil loses more moisture to evaporation. As a bonus, you harvest more crops in less space.

Plant your veggies just a little bit closer than you normally would. If the tag says to plant 4 to 6 inches apart, go with the lower end. If the rows are 8 to 12 inches apart, plant them 8 inches apart.

Another way to do it is to plant low growing crops, or root crops beside your taller plants, or root crops with upright plants. Like growing cucumbers to shade the lettuce.

Succession sowing is also intensive planting. To always have something growing in the soil. For example, planting tomatoes beside your spring spinach. The spinach has been picked by the time the tomato grows and fills out the space.

This is by no means a newfangled concept, it has been done for many decades, centuries even. Check out French Intensive, Biointensive, and Square Foot gardening. Psst, leave out the double digging part though, no one needs to do that much work now that we know about no-dig!

Keep in mind that you need good airflow around your garden or raised beds to prevent powdery mildew from taking hold.

Zinnias and cosmos are very drought tolerant annual flowers. Planting them closer together helps prevent bare soil, water evaporation, and better moisture retention.

Starting a new garden? Plant drought tolerant perennials that will only need water once or twice a month once they are established. That bush that looks like an evergreen is actually a fall aster.

At the acreage, we were building a new privacy bed along the front of the property. It was difficult to water this area, had to count mostly on rain, so we needed drought tolerant plantings and a thick layer of mulch. This was year one, so we had to water everything once a week to get the plants established.

Root crops need less water than many other food crops.

Bonus Tips for Gardening In a Drought Year.

Create shade for your plants. Grow cucumbers, tomatoes, squash up a trellis on the south or west side of the garden to provide some shade. Build a pergola, arbour, or gazebo to give your perennial beds some shade.

Plant drought tolerant annuals, perennials, and vegetables.

• Root crops and greens are far more drought tolerant than plants that make big, juicy crops.

• Sunflowers, cosmos, and zinnias are very drought tolerant annuals.

• Rudbeckia, echinacea, gaillardia, pavement roses, sedums, laitris, yarrow, geraniums, dianthus are all drought tolerant plantings once established. Check drought tolerant plants for your garden zone for more ideas.

Allow the lawn to go brown and dormant for the summer.

Do not fertilise. Fertilisers can stress your plant when water is scarce as your plant will require more water and resources. This may lead to a weak plant or even the death of the plant as it is unable to support the new growth during the drought. The salts in the fertiliser may build up in the soil to cause root burn and damage to your plant.

Plant vegetables and flowers with like needs together. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and other brassicas have the same water needs, plant them together. Rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries have the same water needs and can be grown together.

A bean tower and potted flowers that are not water hogs.

It is an amazing feeling to harvest homegrown vegetables and flowers from your garden. By making a few modifications to the way we do things, we can keep our flowers, keep our vegetable gardens, enjoy our sanctuaries... even in a drought summer.

Happy Water Wise Gardening ~ Tanja