Gardeners worldwide will have landscaping designs and activities affected by their climate. Some will need to account for excessive rain, others might live somewhere where temperatures are cold for most of the year, and then there will be a group whose landscaping is impacted by a lack of rainfall.
You might think that this last group has the biggest problem to deal with, given that anything you want to grow in a garden needs water to survive. You might be right, so to help anyone who does indeed live in an area where rainfall is limited, here are some ways you can address this issue and even turn it into an advantage in your landscape gardening.
Research Your Plants: Landscapers advise that many plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees thrive in dry conditions. You should research which ones fall into this category, decide which ones you like the look of, and then use these in your garden instead of those that require a lot of watering.
Plan Your Planting: As part of your research, and especially if you wish to still include plants that need a fair degree of moisture, you should categorize each group depending on what the experts say about the amount of moisture they require. Then, you should plant each group of plants who have a similar need for water together, thus preventing one or two plants from depriving other plants nearby of the moisture they need.
Utilise Other Means Of Irrigation: It goes without saying that you do not simply have to rely on rain for the moisture your plants need. You could use a simple irrigation system in your garden such as a hose with a revolving sprinkler to provide them with their much-needed water. Just ensure you do not overwater them.
Only Use Young Plants: The reason we are suggesting that you plant young plants rather than mature plants is due to the difference in their roots. Older plants will have established roots, but these are likely to be shorter than in young plants, and as such, they will struggle to provide sufficient moisture from the ground for the plants to survive.
Adjust Your Planting Process: A simple, but highly effective way of helping plants in dry climates is to break up the soil within its planting hole. The plants’ roots will be more inclined to grow deeper, and this helps the plants stay cool, and to absorb whatever moisture there may be in the ground.
Reduce The Amount You Feed Your Plants: Just as the human body adjusts its physiology when a person is dieting, the same applies to plants. By feeding them less, they become more resilient and are thus more able to survive any prolonged periods when moisture might be lacking.
Reduce The Size Of Your Lawn: With your lawn covering the largest area, its need for moisture will be the greatest, often to the detriment of the other plants in the same garden. A simple remedy for this is to reduce the size of the lawn and use the space created to plant other, less needy, plants.
Use Mulch for Moisture: Mulch is often called the gardener’s best friend, and once again it has a way of helping when it is spread around the base of plants as it passes on its moisture and helps those plants to stay cool.
