Water Futility - Dealing with Less Water in the Garden

Written by Nellie Neal

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Last month, no rain fell on my garden. That meant soaker hoses going daily someplace on the acre of random plants, and daily watering of the scores of containers. Nothing grew much, even though everything got its minimum water needs met. My tomatoes were fine, but not plentiful. It’s just true what the old folks say, “ Rainwater grows plants; tapwater just keeps them alive.” Some say it’s the ozone, others claim the pounding action of thunderstorms penetrates to the roots. I don’t know, but I can tell you something about the effects of drought and how to deal with it.

Callers to my radio show report hardened tomatoes and bitter cucumbers, along with apparent death of trees planted this winter. Here’s my advice to them, and all of us who experience a drought at the time everything is filling out: first, keep the water coming, but drip or soak it in to get the precious water down to root level. If vegetables aren’t tasty, compost ‘em, but don’t dump the plants. In fact, baby them a bit by putting fresh mulch at the base of each plant and prune a little if necessary. Cut off any diseased on insect bitten leaves, top tomato plants that are spindly or too tall to pick. Fertilize the plants lightly, about half the recommended dose of your favorite product. You’ll have a head start on the second season of vegetable gardening, which is always easier anyway.

I know it can be rough to garden in the summer in the southeast. The cool breaks are few and far between, but if you’ll give the garden an hour each day, both of you will benefit immensely. Pick a flower, look for bugs eating your herbs, prune a shrub, then sit down and enjoy the view!  

Summer, drought or monsoon, is a fine time to take your snips to young trees and shrubs. Pinch pruning works to shape the plants and thicken the growth along supple stems. When several inches of new growth has emerged and the leaves have opened fully, take a look at your tree. The pecan tree in the picture with this column looks ‘right’, but it’s not always a natural development. If your young tree is unbalanced, with limbs shooting out sideways or much thicker on one side than the other, pinch pruning is your best friend. Like all pruning, this is a subtraction activity. In your mind’s eye, see what the form should be, based on trees you’ve seen or pictures of the species. For example, the pecan tree needs strong limbs well spaced along the trunk, not opposite each other. That sort of branch selecting work should be done in the winter, but by pinch pruning 3-4 inches off each branch now, you can promote more growth on each one. Japanese maple, on the other hand, needs your help to emphasize its horizontal lines by removing growth that springs straight up. Flowering cherries are most dramatic with a dozen or so branches bursting from the crown with plenty of sideshoots to bloom, too. You should remove the whips that come out of the trunk and pinch each tip by a few inches. That stimulates more leaves along each stem now, providing the energy to develop next year’s buds.

GardenMama Nellie Neal is a writer, photographer, and radio host whose new book, Organic Gardening Down South, will be released in September, 2008, by BB Mackey Books of Wayne, PA. She has been a member of Garden Writers Association since 1993 and is National Spokesperson for Multi Bloom and Mega Green, OMRI listed organic catfish hydrolysate fertilizers made in Isola, MS. Her website is www.gardenmama.com.You can see her member profile at www.theMulch.com/my-profile/userprofile/gardenmama.

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