When planting and growing under drought conditions, there are several things that gardeners can do to conserve water usage and still have a great show in the garden.

Choosing the right plants, planting in the right places, preparing the soil beds, weeding conscientiously and using the right fertilizers at the right times will increase your chances of successfully enjoying this seasons gardening experience.

Follow any watering guidelines that may be issued by your local municipalities and use a water breaker on your hose or watering can to direct a gentle water stream to the plants root systems. This will help the soil absorb the water and minimize any wasted runoff.

Plant Selection

Look for plants that are used for borders or edging since they are usually shorter varieties and not require as much water. The taller and fuller growing plants typically require more water. If you have your own favorites you should consider looking for dwarf varieties of these plants. Ageratum, Begonia, Coleus, Dahlia, Petunia (not wave or super), Salvia, Marigold, Verbena and Zinnia are some suggestions.

Planting Locations

Plants grown in shady locations will require less watering than those grown in the full sun. Impatiens, do very well in shady locations and there are so many different colors and sizes that you will be very happy with choices available. Begonias and Coleus also do well and are very colorful choices. Consider relocating your hanging baskets from those very sunny locations to more shaded areas with North or West facing exposures to reduce the water stress. Those spots that get more exposure to the wind will dry things out more quickly so they are also areas to avoid if at all possible.

Preparing the Soil Beds

Incorporating peat moss and compost into areas you are planting in will provide increased moisture holding capacity for your plants. You may also wish to incorporate some of the moisture holding gels that are available on the market to further increase water holding capacity.

Mulching

Mulching your plants not only helps keep weeds from germinating and competing but also helps reduce evaporative moisture loss. Avoid shredded hardwood mulch since it tends to absorb much of the applied water and will not give it up to the plants. Bark nuggets are preferred since they do not absorb nearly as much water and serve as a protective barrier for evaporation. Shredded Cypress Mulch is a good choice since it repels water and serves as a good evaporative barrier.

Weeding

Conscientious weeding is more important than ever when there is little natural moisture or watering restrictions. Weeds will compete for the same moisture and nutrients that your plants want so remove them when you see them. There are also many pre-emergent weed preventers on the market that will stop them before they start. Be sure to read the label for application rates and for the plants that the material can be safely applied to.

Fertilizing

It will be important to use high quality fertilizer products that do not have excess soluble salts in times when watering restrictions are in place. I recommend that you use high quality water-soluble products like the Jack's Classic^® All Purpose 20-20-20 and the Jack's Classic^® Blossom Booster 10-30-20 where you can control the application and timing of the fertilizers you put down. Avoid the low cost granular and slow release products since they can release too many fertilizer salts at one time especially in high heat conditions when moisture is applied.

I recommend that you start by applying the Blossom Booster 10-30-20 when you are setting your plants in the beds or containers at the 1-tablespoon per gallon rate. This will help your plants root systems become established quickly and reach deep into the soil to find moisture.

Your next fertilizer application will be 7 to 10 days after planting. Use the All Purpose 20-20-20 at 1 tablespoon per gallon applied like a good watering.

For the rest of the season I would stick with the Blossom Booster 10-30-20 and make applications every other week (14 day intervals). This fertilizer should keep your plants a little shorter and more stress tolerant because of the higher phosphorus and potassium contents. This program keeps the nitrogen levels on the low side so you will have to watch the lower leaves of the plants (especially geraniums) and if you see them becoming chlorotic (yellow) give them a feed with the All Purpose 20-20-20

If you don't want to alternate you can use both products together. In a 2 gallon watering can use 1 tablespoon of All Purpose 20-20-20 and 1 tablespoon of the Blossom Booster 10-30-20. This also is an effective program that will limit Nitrogen and increase the Phosphorus and Potassium.


Growing with Jack