Organic Gardening News

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After a cloudy, damp beginning, the inevitable warm summer weather of June will begin in earnest. As Greater Vancouver is already imposing serious water restrictions, we all need to mitigate the amount of water we use in our containers and landscapes. Selecting more drought-tolerant plants is certainly one way of dealing with this issue, but there is far more to it.

Water conservation in our gardens and landscapes requires strategic, long-term thinking and planning. It begins with a diversified approach. First of all, plants that have similar water requirements can be grouped and planted in such a way that they can help each other by providing shade and protection from drying winds.

Soil is perhaps the most critical element for all plants, especially in urban areas. So many new developments remove existing soil, construct their projects, and then plant using minimal amounts of good soil. Consequently, the soil in these new beds is often too shallow to support green space plantings and allow them to thrive. As the trees, shrubs, and lawns begin to grow, they require far too much water in the heat of summer to keep them healthy. Their limited root space causes many plants to go into stress, which renders them more susceptible to both disease and other pest problems.

The same is true of containers. Small baskets and planters dry out far too quickly, require watering far more often, and risk stressing out the plants, making their performance far less satisfactory.

Larger containers that have a critical mass of soil will need to be watered less often, making it easier for the plants to grow with less care. The addition of organic matter like Sea Soil and composted manures makes an important difference in the health of the plants and can significantly reduce the amount of irrigation required.

For all your plantings, be they in beds or containers, proper soil preparation is the key to success for all plants, from annuals to trees and shrubs. The planting hole you create should be twice as wide and deep as the size of the root system of the plant. Heavy soils can be amended with fine fir bark mulch and organic matter like Sea Soil, to hold the moisture around the new roots.

While composted manures are wonderful for vegetables, annuals, and perennials, most trees and shrubs are acid-loving, and manures are too alkaline for success. Fine fir bark, kelp and fish meal are the main ingredients of Sea Soil and are much better in helping to minimize water needs, while also aiding the roots to grow down deeper.

Cedar hedges have become a huge issue for care and watering over the past few years. Unfortunately, most hedges were never planted properly in the first place, with good, amended soil, and they are subsequently seldom adequately watered or fed. As a rule, their roots are shallow and as the hot summer weather dries them out, they struggle to survive. This is evident in late summer when we see so many dry brown trees in local hedges.

Older, more well-established hedges can sometimes be revived by working in some quality blended soils around the outside of the root zone of the trees. Try to do this on rainy days to ease the stress on the topmost roots. Work these good soil blends down about three to four inches. In addition, work in some time-release fertilizer like EverGro’s Evergreen and Broadleaf 14-7-14 fertilizer to provide much needed nutrient over a longer period.

Next, it’s important to water well and deeply. Finally, add a soaker hose or drip irrigation to help keep the soil moist going forward. Top dressing with a mulch will really help retain even minimal moisture. Drip systems are by far the most time efficient and are effective, however you must check the soil regularly to see how far down the moisture has penetrated — it can be deceiving with these systems, because you do need to water deeply to keep the roots growing downward. This is important if you want to turn even tired hedges into full, vibrant privacy screens. As a reminder, all trees and shrubs need to be watered at their drip line, which is the outer perimeter of the foliage.

Smart watering is one of the most effective ways to save water. The concept is to keep water off the foliage of the trees and keep it focused on the root zones. Pulsating sprinklers waste a good deal of water through evaporation and misdirected water spraying on sidewalks and roadways. For lawns, underground systems with efficient waterheads are the best ways to irrigate turf when allowed.

Soaker hoses are a great way to water vegetable, annual, and perennial gardens. When carefully placed, the water goes directly to the root zone, and less water is used.

Watering in the morning when the temperature is on the rise is by far the most efficient time to water. Evening watering results in plants transpiring moisture away, and essentially not making the best use of it. Watering in the heat of the day is not recommended because of the loss to evaporation and danger of burning the foliage.

Using plants in our gardens that are both more heat and drought tolerant is certainly important. They all need about six months to a year to become established well enough to minimize their watering requirements. We can all still use our favourite plants and pollinators, but we also still need to ensure proper soil preparation.

Some of my personal “go-to” drought resistant plants for summer colour include lantanas, portulaca, salvias and zinnias. For perennials, achillea, echinacea, gaillardia, lavender perovskia, rudbeckia and sedums are some of the best. While there are many sources offering additional suggestions, for a comprehensive list, be sure to check out the FireSmart B.C. Landscaping Guide. Not only does it offer proactive tips for keeping your garden FireSmart, it evaluates several annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs based on their moisture requirements once established. To view the guide, visit firesmartbc.ca/resource/landscaping-guide .

Related

• Brian Minter: Container gardening goes outside the box
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