By Sharon Omahen
Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations
Volume XXVII
|
Before you decide which plants to keep and which you plan to
pitch from your
landscape in the spring, consider your future selections’
drought tolerance.
“Unfortunately, our plants can’t ring the doorbell and tell
us they need watering,”
said Jim Midcap, a horticulturist with the University of
Georgia College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
“If they could talk, they’d most likely tell us they could
have used more water
and fertilizer last year,” Midcap said. “They’d also tell you
they could have
developed more flowers and been more robust if you had given
them more care
rather than just visited when they were flowering.”
A quick look will tell you
Midcap says a quick look around your landscape will tell you
which of your
current plants are drought-resistant.
“Considering Georgia’s drought conditions, if a plant’s not
dead or very stressed,
it’s most likely drought-resistant,” he said.
Drought plant planning
Midcap offers advice to homeowners who are planning to add
new landscape plants
to their yards despite the ongoing drought.
First, divide your landscape into water-use zones.
“You should have an area where you group plants that have to
be irrigated regularly,
other areas for those that have to be irrigated only under
drought conditions
and areas for plants that rely on rainfall only for their
water,” Midcap said.
Next, to help your plants survive the drought, apply a layer
of mulch. Mulch
will help hold water in the soil around your plants.
Midcap says planting and establishing your trees and shrubs
during the winter
can actually help them be more drought-tolerant in the spring
and summer.
“When you prune your plants, they’re going to grow more and
require more water
in spring and summer,” he said.
Picking drought-proof plants
Above all, Midcap says the key to having a droughtproof
landscape is plant
selection.
“Pick plants that are tough, durable, resilient and hardy for
both winter and
summer,” he said. “You also have to look at the drought
resistance, light requirement,
soil types, space available and pest resistance.”
For example, you wouldn’t want to plant hostas in direct
sunlight or Leyland
cypress in a small area.
Once you’ve covered all of these bases, then you can take
into consideration
what you want to see in your landscape. Do you want an
evergreen plant? Or do
you care more about having a yard filled with pretty flowers?
Midcap recommends the following drought-resistant shrubs for
your landscape.
Many other drought-resistant shrubs are available from your
local nursery or
garden center.
Glossy abelia, a heritage plant that’s “tough as
nails” and doesn’t
grow too large.
Wintergreen and Japanese barberry, often
called “sticker bushes.”
The colored-leaf forms are popular, and it’s a tough plant
with no known pests.
Butterfly bush. It’s a great selection for drought
conditions. It’s
very drought-tolerant, but it tends to get big. Deadhead old
flowers to ensure
new ones.
Sweetshrub, a native, tough plant that grows well in
shade. It’s deciduous,
with bold foliage and flowers, and can be found with red
(Carolina sweetshrub)
and yellow (Athens sweetshrub) fragrant flowers.
Flowering quince, a heritage plant that produces
flowers early in
the spring before the leaves emerge.
Hollies (Chinese, dwarf yaupon, Nellie R. Stevens).
A standard in
the green industry, once it’s established, it’s in for
good.
Winter jasmine, a tough plant that naturally
cascades down banks.
It looks like an early forsythia, but doesn’t produce as
many flowers.
Leatherleaf mahonia, a heritage plant that, once
established, is there
for good.
Southern wax myrtle. This plant wants to be a tree.
It grows to look
like haystacks pruning.
Fortune’s Osmanthus, a very tough evergreen that can
stand the test
of time. It has small, fragrant flowers in fall.
