Drought Tolerant Gardens

In these days of low rainfall and water restrictions, the use of drought tolerant plants is essential. We have a lot of experience with drought tolerant plants, and have seen which plants really are drought tolerant and which claim to be, but have varying levels of drought tolerance. We can provide everything from information on the web site and forum to a site visit/consultation with advice to a complete design service with detailed planting plans followed by sourcing the plants.

In these days of diminishing water availability it is important to plan your outdoor living areas so that you use as little as possible of this valuable natural resource. There are many ways to do this which include:

Plant Selection

• Plant drought tolerant plants. There is a wide range of plants that are able to cope with lack of water. Try to use plants that are indigenous to your area as a first choice, and if these do not suit your needs then look at plants from other parts of the world with similar climatic conditions.
• Group plants with similar water needs. You might have some plants that you like that need a little more water than other plants. If you group these together then you can target different areas with different irrigation patterns, rather than watering everywhere with the same amount of water. This is one of the reasons to keep any vegetables in the same spot. A veggie patch can actualy save water because home grown veggies use less water to grow than shop bought ones.

Thie pictures below are of some planting in Kings Park, Perth. It shows Australian natives that are very drought tolerant.

BEFORE

The picture above is of a garden with a dry creek bed through it.

"Drought tolerant" plants list

AFTER

The picture above is of the same garden 3 years later. This garden has no irrigation system. The plants were watered when planted and have only had occasional hand watering on extreme heat days.

BEFORE

He sourced the plants and then showed the clients how to lay them out and they then planted them.

BEFORE

AFTER

Clive then offered a follow up service to check on plant health and offer pruning advice. This is the same garden 3 years later.

Irrigation

• Install a rain water tank. These come in all shapes and sizes and can be put under your house or even used as garden or boundary walls!
• Install a gray water system. This stores and re-uses the water from your shower and laundry. There can be problems with constantly using this on your plants due to the phosphates in detergents and the increase of soil alkalinity as a result of over-use. If uses sparingly it should be fine, or alternatively consider using this for your toilets, thus reducing water consumption.
• Water wisely. Install dripper systems and set them to come on during your watering days during the night. Clive can recommend professional irrigators for any advice and service you need.

Mulch

• Mulch reduces evaporation by creating a protective layer between the soil and sun.
• Coarse mulch helps water absorption by "trapping" the water rather than letting it run of
• By keeping the sun off the soil, plant roots are kept cooler and under less stress.
• Mulch can be either organic or inorganic. Organic mulches consist of broken down plants and can include everything from compost and straw to coarse bark chips. Remember that smaller particle composts will break down more quickly than coarse mulches. Inorganic mulches consist of things like: gravel, pebbles, stones, recycled glass and plastics. Whilst most of these mulches do not add nutrients to the soil, they do not break down and so last longer. The variety of colours can also create a good effect.

"Drought tolerant" plants list

Maintenance

• Keep your garden weed free. Weeds compete with your plants for water, so remove the competition!
• Keep your mulch topped up. How often you need to do this depends on the type of mulch, but is worthwhile doing.
• Pruning. Whilst appropriate pruning is generally a good idea, pruning in dry conditions can add extra stress on plants and is best avoided.
• Keep an eye on your garden! Try to walk around your garden at least twice a week and look for plants that are showing signs of stress, eg. wilting. You can then water much more wisely.
• Maintain your irrigation system and watch for leaks and blocked nozzles etc.