Agapanthus (PA Photo/thinkstockphotos)

As the hot weather continues, Hannah Stephenson offers tips on how to make your garden more drought resistant

Our sweltering July probably prompted many gardeners to reach for the hosepipe. In fact, according to The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), less than 3% of the annual water consumption of an average household is estimated to be from garden use, but at peak demand times as much as 70% of water supplied may be used in gardens.

This doesn’t have to be the case though. Rainwater collected in water butts, waste water from the kitchen and grey water from the bathroom can all be used to water plants.

Or, maybe, the ultimate solution is simply to create a garden that doesn’t need much watering in the first place.

This doesn’t mean creating a desert garden devoid of colour. Dramatic flowerbeds can easily be achieved from plants that have very low moisture and maintenance demands. Many drought-resistant plants naturally form communities of plants which all thrive in the same conditions and come from similar Mediterranean habitats.

At the front of the border you could have dwarf lavender, Sedum spectabile, lamb’s ears and ornamental grass such as stipa tenuissima, while middle-sized drought-resistant plants include Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’, Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ (wallflower), Russian sage and Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ (catmint).

At the back of the border you could use species more than 1.8m tall, including Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’, Choisya ternata (Mexican orange blossom) and Trachelospermum jasminoides.

Most drought-tolerant plants will have either aromatic leaves, fleshy and succulent leaves (which store moisture for dry spells), grey leaves, hairy leaves (which shade themselves with their own hairs), long narrow leaves (which are good at shedding heat without water), or spikes (which act as ‘fins’ to cool the plant).

The RHS offers these extra tips to create a more drought-resistant, but still attractive, garden:

:: Cultivate the soil deeply and dig in large quantities of organic matter to improve soil structure, water retention and water availability for plants. Well-rotted garden compost, mushroom compost, composted bark and well-rotted farmyard manure are all suitable forms of organic matter. Heavy manuring can add nearly a month’s worth of water storage capacity to the soil. Loam-based potting compost doesn’t dry out as quickly as peat-free composts. If using peat-free, water-retaining gels might have some benefit.

:: Apply sufficient fertiliser as plants use water most efficiently where nutrient levels are adequate. But do not apply too much fertiliser to the soil, as this can encourage too much lush growth which can flop in summer, requiring extra watering and becoming frost-damaged in winter.

:: Choose plants with grey-green or silver leaves as they reflect the sun’s rays, helping to conserve moisture within the plant tissues.

:: Try to choose plants which suit the site’s soil type and aspect. They will be more tolerant of varying climatic conditions as well as of pest and disease problems.

:: Plant things while they are still small. They will develop much greater resilience as they adapt to their conditions from a young age. Ideally plant in autumn so they can do some growing before dry weather arrives.

:: If planting Mediterranean plants, do so in spring when the soil is warming up. Many of these plants will suffer from root-rot if planted in autumn and become cold and damp over winter.

:: Before planting, thoroughly soak the plants in their pots in a bucket of water until the bubbles stop rising to the surface.

:: Thoroughly water in all new plants (and keep them watered in the first season after planting to ensure they establish well). Once established, they will become much more drought tolerant.

:: After planting, mulch the bed with 5-7.5cm (2-3in) of gravel or, even better, a layer of compost or straw covered with gravel, to help retain moisture while the plants establish.

:: You may decide to go without a lawn in your drought-friendly garden, but if not, you’ll be pleased to know that lawns are surprisingly drought tolerant and usually recover well in the autumn rains even if they have been brown and parched most of the summer. Lawn irrigation should rarely be required, if at all, to keep the grass healthy.

Posted: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 8:42 am

Gardening Tips

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By now your tomato plants should be starting to bear fruit, tantalizing you with their green promises of what’s to come. After all, no store bought tomato can ever compare to the juicy sweetness of a homegrown tomato.

However, tomato plants can quickly become overburdened with long heavy limbs and dozens of fruits. Sometimes a tomato cage won’t cut it. Here are four tips for wrangling and managing your tomato plants this summer.

Tip 1: Cage ’Em

I know I just said that sometimes a tomato cage won’t cut it, but there are times when a cage will cut it—namely while the plant is still young. You can buy tomato cages at any home improvement or gardening center or you can make one by wrapping chicken wire into a tall cylinder. Whatever you use, place the cage over the tomato and carefully thread the limbs through it, allowing them to rest on the cross wires or the center rings. It’s easiest if you place a cage over the tomato when you plant it so that you can help the limbs use the cage as they grow.

Tip 2: Stake ’Em

Stakes are a great solution for a larger vegetable garden. Your stakes should be at least 1-inch thick and five or six feet tall. Plant the stakes at least a foot in the ground. You can use wooden stakes you buy at the home improvement center, you can harvest large branches or small trees from your property, you can use bamboo or you can use fencing stakes—you get the idea. Use smaller pieces of wood or tightly pulled baling twine to create cross supports between the stakes. Carefully thread the limbs through the support system. You can also secure the limbs to the system with twine, twist ties or zip ties.

Tip 3: Net ’Em

Even if you cage and/or stake your tomatoes, they may still require another layer of support—depending on how far out their limbs decide to reach. I like to buy tomato nets and secure them to the top of their support system. Zip ties work great for this. Use the netted squares to support the ends of the limbs.

Tip 4: Prune ’Em

It’s not completely necessary, but your plant will benefit from a little pruning. The very bottom leaves (they often look wilted or yellow) are great ones to prune because they aren’t going to produce anything. You can also prune or pinch off the little “suckers” or leaves that shoot up in the elbow between two limbs. These suckers also won’t produce anything and they really do suck the plant of energy and nutrients that the plant could send to the tomatoes. You can also selectively prune back some of the leaves on the plant—namely the ones that are inadvertently shading tomatoes or blossoms. Don’t prune too much though! The leaves are gathering the sunlight that create the sugars and other nutrients the plant needs to produce and survive (photosynthesis, y’all).

And there you have it. Four simple tips to help you get the most of your tomatoes this summer. Here’s to many tomato sandwiches.

Darla Antoine is an enrolled member of the Okanagan Indian Band in British Columbia and grew up in Eastern Washington State. For three years, she worked as a newspaper reporter in the Midwest, reporting on issues relevant to the Native and Hispanic communities, and most recently served as a producer for Native America Calling. In 2011, she moved to Costa Rica, where she currently lives with her husband and their infant son. She lives on an organic and sustainable farm in the “cloud forest”—the highlands of Costa Rica, 9,000 feet above sea level. Due to the high elevation, the conditions for farming and gardening are similar to that of the Pacific Northwest—cold and rainy for most of the year with a short growing season. Antoine has an herb garden, green house, a bee hive, cows, a goat, and two trout ponds stocked with hundreds of rainbow trout.