Rain Dance

It’s hot. Really hot and dry too. Unless of course you have been hit with the torrential rains that tend to go hand-in-hand with the pop-up thunderstorms spawned by this weather. In any case, these driving rains are better at washing away a garden rather than watering it! So the issue of dryness remains…

In my garden, the latest heat wave is beginning to take it’s toll on my plants. Thirsty mature trees slurp up the moisture from the lowly ‘riff raff’ below (i.e. my perennials!) and the sun makes short work of baking other areas of the yard. We have reached the point on our property where supplemental irrigation is necessary.

Oh how we could really use some rain right now! (Photo credit: Pete Nowicki on Unsplash)

Now I should start by saying that gardens need water- but it is the quality of the watering that counts as opposed to the number of times the garden is watered on a weekly basis. In general, a mature garden (as opposed to one that has been recently planted) needs about an inch of water a week. Sure, some plants are thirstier than others (and these plants often display their displeasure for the dry conditions with a little wilting tantrum) but this ‘inch a week’ guideline is one to keep in the back of the mind throughout the growing season- even if it is a very general guideline.

So with this in mind, here are some tips to effectively water a garden:

• Water in the morning. Grab that morning coffee and enjoy the zen that watering a garden can bring. Morning irrigation sessions allow the foliage of the plants to dry out as the day progresses. Many plant diseases require moisture to spread and/or to successfully infect a plant. Reducing the ‘leaf wetness period’ can go a long way in reducing the incidence of disease. Watering in the morning also conserves water- less water will be lost to evaporation (which is a problem when watering midday- the hottest part of the day).

• Use the ‘shower’ setting on your hand-held sprayer for watering garden plants (the ‘soaker’ setting is great for planters). I find these settings create the least amount of mist (mist just gets lost to the air and is ultimately a waste of precious water). Keep this point in mind when choosing a sprinkler setting too.

• One deep watering is far better than many shallow waterings. This strategy encourages deep rooting and ensures that ample moisture has been provided to the plants (rather than chronically underwatering them)

• Water around perennials and small shrubs and don’t forget to water out to the drip line of larger plants (The drip line is the point on the ground to which the farthest reaching branches of the tree/shrub extend. It is out near the drip line where a large proportion of the feeder roots of trees exist and these are the key to taking up moisture.)

• Water the ground not the leaves- afterall, it is the roots that take up the water. This is not possible with a regular sprinkler but if hand watering, you have control over this- exercise that power!

• Do not water flowers…unless you like blemishes; water droplets resting on some flowers can magnify the sun and cause brown blemishes on the petals as a result. This is not a given, but it is certainly a consideration.

• Keep a keen eye on planters. As you’ve likely already noticed- pots dry out fast! The smaller the planter, the quicker it dries out. Additionally, porous planters (such as coco fibre lined baskets, fibre pots or terra cotta) also dry out quicker than non porous ones such as ceramic, fibreglass or plastic. Check on pots throughout the day- they will normally require daily watering, but on really hot days or windy days (when the air essentially sucks the moisture out of the plants and, in turn out of the soil), they could require more than one watering.

Pots lined with materials such as coco fibre dry out quickly; it is not unusual for them to require two waterings a day!

• Water in stages, especially if a planter or part of the garden has dried out. If the soil is dry, it takes time to absorb the water (in a garden, you will often see most of the initial water running off extremely dry soil). To avoid wasting water and ensure the soil is actually absorbing the moisture, water an area or pot briefly, move on to another location/pot, followed by another; rotate through your planters or garden until the plants have received a good soaking.

Final note: At the time of writing this, we were in the midst of a dry spell and heat wave. The forecast calls for the heat and humidity to break today with the arrival of a cold front. (Phew!) Looks like I am saved from some watering chores for now. Instead, I will do a rain dance!

The Big Experiment

As gardeners, we are no strangers to experimentation. I put the blame squarely on the plant world for this. With all the amazing flora available to fill our gardens, we are exposed to constant temptation each time we set foot in a garden centre.

How can one possibly resist a new plant, when staring at gorgeous foliage or stunning flowers? It’s hard to block out that instant to-the-core feeling that makes you want to jump up and down like a kid in a candy store and scream ‘I need that!’

We all know how this all-too-common scenario unfolds…

You spot ‘the plant’. You stop dead in your tracks and stare at this new found beauty. (Is that a single beam of sunlight shining down only on that plant? You can almost hear a voice whispering from above, saying “buy the plant!!”. It must be a sign…) You look at the plant tag to get a sense of how big this ‘potted beauty’ will grow, as well as the conditions required for it to flourish…

“Hmm…requires full sun (6+ hours of direct sun)…deep rich soil, moderate moisture… OK. I have dry shade…”

It seems painfully obvious that you just need to put the plant down and back away. But the internal dialogue continues….

”…but I get a bit of sun in the back corner, I can put it there… I’ll amend the soil… I promise to water religiously…”

The plant ends up in your garden (so much for the information on that plant tag!) and guess what happens next?

“🎸Dum, dum, dum… another one bites the dust…🎸” You know that voice you heard? Turns out Freddie Mercury wanted the plant too.

My ‘OMG must have moment’ of the week. Full sun? Well…. the front yard receives almost 6 hours.

With all that said, not all garden experiments end with an earworm; experimenting in the garden can be rewarding too. Pushing the rules and boundaries can help a gardener learn just how much they can get away with, when it comes to the care of certain plants- which is really valuable information!

So this is why I have kicked off my own experiment this year: a food garden. This might seem like an outrageous statement coming from a landscape gardener but there are a few factors at play that make this a not-so-straightforward gardening project and one that falls more into the ‘experimental’ range.

1. First of all, I am predominantly an ornamental gardener- my food gardening experience is limited and, while the principals of growing food and growing ornamentals are the same, I am not schooled in the nuances of the ‘edible plant’ palette .

2. My yard is shady- technically part shade (3-6 hours of sun) where the raised bed is located. While some ‘crops’ can tolerate these light conditions, many do not, so I need to make my plant selections carefully.

3. The newly founded ‘farm’ is within the dripline of a butternut tree (the point on the ground to which the branches extend overhead). This tree (along with other Juglans and Carya species) produces a chemical called juglone which inhibits the growth of other plants beneath it. Different plants have varying sensitivities to juglone, so I must choose crop plants that can not only tolerate shade, but also have some tolerance to this chemical. Fortunately, butternut trees do not produce the same concentrations of juglone as black walnut trees (Juglans nigra)- good news for my edibles!

Gazing up at the butternut (Juglans cinerea) canopy. Is that the afternoon sun trying to peek through?

Despite these three factors, I am always up for a challenge and I have decided that the theme in my garden this year is “partial shade food gardening beneath a butternut”.

Wish me luck! It should be a good little experiment; and it has already become a true experiment. After being unsatisfied with the limited selection of plants tolerant to both shade and juglone (beets, beans, parsnip and squash), I decided to add cucumber, lettuce, spinach, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and eggplant to the mix… just to see what happens. If the results are good, you will read about them in future posts; if they are bad, we will forget this post ever happened (just kidding- I’ll post the failures too, after all we can learn a lot from them)!

Happy experimenting!