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 Gardening Galore
With the short and generally low rainfall this past
rainy season, water conservation in the garden this year is a must.
The dams, lakes and rivers did not fill up and the water table
certainly did not get the full top up of a good year’s rains.
The deciduous trees are shedding their leaves and
long grass has been slashed. Use this material as a blanket to mulch
the soil. The thicker the better.
If leaves have to be swept up, put them on the garden
beds between plants, round the base of the shrubs and trees or any
bare soil in the garden between the vegetables on the paths. This
mulch layer will blanket the soil keeping it cool. It reduces water
loss from evapo-transpiration and wind and generally creates a micro
climate favourable for insects and the decomposition of the mulch
material. In natural woodland there is a layer inches thick of
leaves, grass, flowers, seed pods etc. that decomposes slowly
releasing nutrients but shading the soil from the sun and wind.
Termites also benefit from this dead plant matter
digesting it back into the, soil releasing the nutrients stored in
the material. With the long dry season coming, the termites will
certainly eat their share of the mulch and hopefully not your well
tended plants.
With Winter upon us, plant growth will slow down with
the lowering temperatures. Less water is used by plants and lost
through evaporation but when the wind picks up it will be lost
through transpiration.
If the soil is properly mulched, this can be reduced
and winter can be a good timeto bank or deposit water into the soil
for the hot months coming. Water deeply once a week rather than
little and often. This means leaving your sprinkler in one position
for a few hours. You want the water to penetrate deeply into the sub
soil.
The use of drought tolerant plants will help the
garden stay green longer. Kapinga or the indigenous lawn couch grass
needs a lot less water to look good than the broad leaved grass
lawns. When mowing leave the grass clipping on the lawn. This will
help to mulch the lawn and if termites are present, it will feed
them.
Watering in the cool of the day puts more water in
the soil. Night watering is the best as there is no evaporation from
the hot sun.
Cacti, succulents and plants with needle-like leaves
lose a lot less water than big broad leaved plants under hot or
windy conditions. Plants that drop their leaves during the winter
and leaf up just before the rains do not need water for the few
winter months.
Water down deep into the root zone – this will keep a
garden alive.
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June 2005