Last year’s drought may have you wondering if it’s worth going to
the garden center this spring. And forecasters say the drought
isn’t over.

Before you put your trowel away, though, remember that many of
our grandmothers successfully grew flowers in droughts. They
never gave up. They just used common sense.

Following simple rules, you can have a colorful garden without
violating watering restrictions or spending precious free time
holding a garden hose.

Plant Early

For perennials, “early” means autumn. Perennials planted in April
don’t have time to grow sufficient roots. So you have to water
more often. That strategy isn’t wise, given the likelihood of
watering bans.

Fall-planted perennials have all winter to build roots. They
withstand drought better because they absorb water more
efficiently. They will bloom and grow with half the care.

For annuals, “early” means as soon as the soil is warm enough for
that species and frost chances are past. For most annuals, the
best planting time is around April 1 in south Georgia and May 1
in the north Georgia mountains.

Waiting until June delays root development, forcing you to water
annuals more often.

Prepare the Soil

Mixed with most Georgia soils, organic matter does many good
things. It allows more air spaces to form, letting water
penetrate deeper. The roots will follow the water.

It also makes the soil looser and lets roots grow through soil
more easily. Deeper roots are cooler. And cooler roots use up
fewer sugars. That leaves more for the plant to use to grow,
flower and withstand a long drought.

Normally, add at least 2 inches of organic matter to a flower bed
each spring. This spring, though, you might try at least 4
inches. Composted bark and homegrown compost are excellent
materials.

Mulch Heavily

Unmulched gardens let the sun beat down on the soil, and hot
soils evaporate water fast. Wind, too, easily blows away water
vapor near the soil surface.

With an extra deep layer of mulch, you can reduce the evaporation
driven by heat and almost eliminate moisture loss to wind.

Here’s a mulch recipe that worked great in my garden last year.
Place 4 inches of composted pine bark around newly planted
annuals. This coarse material has a lot of surface area. That’s
great for capturing rainfall and cooling the soil, but bad for
wind- and sun-driven evaporation.

Then place 2 inches of pine straw on top of the bark. This layer
intercepts and reflects some of the heat. Most important, it
reduces air flow over the bark.

Hand-spread these layers after planting the annuals. They settle
down to about 4 inches after a week or so.

Water sparingly

Once your mulch is in place, you won’t need to water as often.
But a sprinkle of rain or a pass over with the garden hose won’t
wet the soil underneath all that mulch.

It takes a steady, lengthy watering to thoroughly saturate the
soil. If you’ve prepared the soil and mulched properly, you won’t
need to water more than once a week. But when you do water, water
thoroughly.

If you’re on water restrictions, don’t water just because it’s
your day. Overwatering killed more garden plants last summer than
the drought.

Water no more often that once a week. Your prepared soils will
dry out very slowly. The roots will respond to slight drying by
growing deeper.

Applying 2 inches of water per square foot will saturate the soil
and keep prepared soils moist for at least seven and usually 10
days.

Finally, use plants that can take the heat. If you do all these
things with native and other drought-resistant plants, you’ll be
well prepared for the worst the Georgia summer can hand you.