Tips For Gardening During a Dry Season
The 2023 garden season has been unusually dry for where I live, and for many other people as well. This summer, many regions that usually experience very hot dry summers have experienced more rain and cooler temperatures, while other places, like where I am located in the northeast, has been very very dry.
*Update: now that is has gotten into September, we have gotten much more rain!
My first year gardening, I did not have to worry too much about watering my garden. I would have to water it every couple of days or maybe once a week, but I could mostly depend on the rain showers to keep my garden happy. This season, we went over a month without any rain (which I know can be very normal for some places, but it is very uncommon for where I live). It was DRY. I began to worry that I was using up too much water to in the garden, but I also knew that the plants needed it.
I want to share some tips of things I did this season to try to conserve water and keep my plants as healthy and happy as possible in this unusually dry season. Many of these tips are things you should be practicing whether you are in a dry season or not, but are especially helpful if going through a drought.
Mulch
Cover your soil. Wood chips, straw, leaves, or whatever you have access to. Covering your soil will help it retain moisture and not dry out in the hot sun. As a bonus, as the mulch breaks down it adds nutrients to the soil!
Water in the Morning
When watering your garden, try to water in the early morning before the sun starts to really heat up! Watering before it is too hot out will give the plants a chance to soak in all that water before it begins to evaporate.
Water Deeply, But Less Often
Instead of watering a little everyday, When watering in the morning, also water deeply, make sure it gets down to all the roots. If you only provide surface level watering, it may evaporate before it can get down to the roots.
Provide Shade if Possible
A lot of plants don’t actually like all day full sun, and they will dry out quickly. Consider putting up a shade cloth, go ahead and build that arbor you have been wanting, or find some tall plants that can be used as shade for shorter plants.
Rain Barrels
I don’t yet have a rain barrel. Since, my home runs on well water, I don’t feel it is as necessary. However, by taking advantage of any rain you do get, by catching it in a rain barrel, watering cans, or buckets, you can use all that rain water to put right in your garden instead of your lawn or other parts of the yard. It will even save you money if your home uses city water!
Conserve Water
When we were going on a month without rain, I got serious about saving water, and I am still being intentional with how I use our water. I did a double check before I would pour any water down the drain… “could this water go outside?” If I boiled any veggies or pasta, instead of straining and letting all the water go down the drain, I would let it all cool down, and pour it on some bushes outside. When letting my shower warm up, I would fill up a cup of water that I would then use to water the plants. This might be silly, but why not? Why not give the water to our plants instead of letting it go right down the drain?
