If you're in the Southeast as we are, I know you're thankful for the rain we've been receiving. I'm now encouraged and excited about the upcoming gardening season, and we're again making plans about what to plant. The whole state of Georgia, as well as much of our country, sufferered tremendously from the drought last year. We'd be wise to plan ahead to be hit hard with it again this year. Currently I'm studying on what plants in our garden made it through the drought last year, and searching for new varieties of those to add this year. I'll let you know in future posts what I find out! As we dealt with the drought during the past few years, we've come upon a few tips for survival, and I thought I'd share them with you:
- Conserve water every way you can. Save water for later use by leaving a bucket in the shower or fill buckets from leftover bath water to use for watering plants. Install a rain collection barrel to collect rain now while it's plentiful.
- Amend the soil with compost. Well-amended soil retains water better, and plant roots are better able to move freely through the soil to reach available water and nutrients, making for healthier plants ready to fight the drought.
- Plant drought tolerant plants! If you must have some of the plants that are less able to cope with water shortages, plant them close together in a spot where you can easily water them with reclaimed water.
- Mulch, mulch, mulch! Apply a thick layer--up to 4 inches thick--of a good organic mulch. Don't use things like gravel unless you're growing cactus. And it turns out that mulch made from recycled tires could be cancer-causing, according to a report from Environment and Human Health Inc http://www.ehhi.org/reports/turf/). Good organic mulch not only retains soil moisture and protects roots, but also breaks down in time, enriching the soil.
Remember to check back soon for my suggestions on drought tolerant plants for your Georgia garden.
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