Gardening in a drought

Well, if you've taken a look outside recently, you may have noticed things are a little crispy. We just experienced our 1st (in VT) and 2nd (in NH) driest August on record (since 1895) and things are not looking promising in the rain department anytime soon! With that in mind, we've put together a short list of ways to make your garden more resilient to drought conditions.

#1: Mulch

A few inches of mulch makes a big difference! Whether you use traditional bark mulch, leaves, grass clippings, or something else, mulch helps keep the soil cool and retains moisture.

#2: Water deeply (not frequently!)

Frequent waterings means plants don't have to work to get water and they correspondingly produce more shallow roots. Less frequent but deeply saturating watering encourages plants to send out deeper roots that can access water lower in the soil, making them more resilient to periods of drought. Of course, keep in mind the water needs of your gardens- new plantings will need more water than established gardens!

#3: Use a soaker hose or drip irrigation

Soaker hoses or drip irrigation provide water directly to the soil, where it's needed! This reduces evaporation and is more water-efficient.

#4: Water in the morning

Watering in the mornings before it gets too hot out also helps to reduce evaporation and is better than watering in the evening when water-saturated leaves might sit all night- a potential for disease to develop!

#5: Don't fertilize

When plants are stressed out, the last thing you want to do is to encourage lots of new growth that requires the plant to use water.

#6: Deadhead your flowers

Yes, deadheading has a purpose beyond aesthetics! Clipping off spent blooms means energy isn't going into seed production.

#7: Healthy soil

Everything comes back to healthy soil (at least in blog-writer Sarah's opinion)! Increasing your soil's organic matter is key, as it can retain up to 10x its weight in water and also encourages soil biota that build soil structure.

#8: Incorporate drought-tolerant plants

Drought-tolerant plants typically have deep roots that can search for water deep down, or waxy/silvery/fleshy leaves to reduce water loss. Here's a few of our native favorites:

Coneflower (Echinacea spp.) is a gorgeous drought-tolerant addition to any garden!

• Blanket flower (Gaillardia spp.)

• Coneflower (Echinacea spp.)

• Black/brown-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp.)

• Milkweed (Asclepias spp.)

• Mountain Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum)

• Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis)