Sustaining gardens in dry times
It is possible to sustain your garden in dry times – just implement a few simple measures such as mulching, collecting rainwater and installing irrigation fittings and you will give your garden the best possible chance to stay green all year round!
Don’t make major changes to your garden in summer
Summer is not the time to reinvent a waterwise garden. By all means mulch, prune, shade, get rid of pot plants, reduce lawn area, etc., but please don't put in young plants, start a new grass lawn or even install a new irrigation system.
The ground is rock hard, disturbed soil will lose a lot more water and plants are likely to die even with copious water. Wait for autumn, preferably after the autumn rains start and the weather is cooler. It will be easier, more successful and you will be in an excellent position for next summer as plants will have plenty of time to establish before summer.
The ground is rock hard, disturbed soil will lose a lot more water and plants are likely to die even with copious water. Wait for autumn, preferably after the autumn rains start and the weather is cooler. It will be easier, more successful and you will be in an excellent position for next summer as plants will have plenty of time to establish before summer.
In this section...
Acknowledgements: In addition to the other sites and links embodied in the text the savewater!® Alliance would like to acknowledge Kevin Walsh, author of Waterwise Gardening, (Reed New Holland, Third Edition 2004), Sustainable Gardening Australia, Burnley Horticultural College and the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne for some of the content of these solutions and their invaluable advice and suggestions.