Gardens, lawns, trees and shrubs feel the burn of inevitable
dry times in broiling
Georgia summers.

But you can slake your plants’ thirst until the rains come,
says Wayne McLaurin, a
horticulturist with the University of Georgia Extension
Service.

Plants need soil moisture to grow. In fact, a healthy plant
is 75 percent to 90 percent
water. During this critical time in their growing season, plants
just can’t do without, McLaurin says.

“Vegetable crops need about an inch of water per week
from rain, irrigation or both,” he says. “Keep a rain gauge near
the garden or check with the local weather
bureau for rainfall amounts. Supplement rainfall with irrigation
water if needed.”

During dry times, a single thorough, weekly watering of one
to two inches (65 to 130
gallons per 100 square feet) is enough for most soils. Wet soils
five to six inches deep
each time you water, and don’t water again until the top few
inches begin to dry out. The
average garden soil will store two to four inches of water per
foot of depth.

You can reduce the water you need by using some simple
conservation techniques:

* Add organic matter. Soil moisture may not be available to
plants, particularly if the
soil is a heavy clay, which tends to retain water.

For example, if four and a half inches of water per foot are
in a heavy clay soil, as
little as one and a half inches may be available for plants. A
fairly high level of humus
in the soil can make more water available to plants.

Adding organic matter also improves the moisture-holding
capacity of sandy soils.
Although most water in sandy soil is available for plants, it
drains so quickly that even
a few days after rain, plants can’t reach it. Humus in sandy
soil gives the water
something to cling to until the plants need it.

* Mulching can greatly reduce your watering needs. A three-
to four-inch layer of
organic mulch can cut water needs in half.

Mulch smothers weeds and keeps water from evaporating so fast
from the soil. Organic
mulches hold some water themselves and increase the humidity
around a plant.

Black plastic mulch also conserves moisture. But it may make
the soil dramatically
hotter during summer if it isn’>t covered by other mulches.

* Shading and windbreaks can also help conserve moisture.
Plants that wilt in very
sunny areas can benefit from partial shade in the afternoon.
Protect small plants.

When the rains don’t come and the plants are suffering, it’s
time to irrigate.

“The home gardener has several options for watering
plants,”
McLaurin says. “Use
a sprinkler can, a garden hose with a fan nozzle or spray
attachment, portable lawn
sprinklers, a perforated plastic soaker hose, drip or trickle
irrigation or a
semiautomatic drip system.”

Several types of drip or trickle equipment are available. The
soaker hose is probably
the least expensive and easiest to use. It’s a fibrous hose that
allows water to slowly
seep out along its length.

Hoses perforated with tiny holes do the same thing: water
slowly drips out of the
holes.

An emitter-type system works best for small raised beds or
container gardens. Short
tubes, or emitters, extend from a main water supply hose and
directly deposit water at the
roots of selected plants.

This is generally the most expensive form of irrigation and
the hardest to set up. But
weeds don’t get
watered and you don’t lose much water through evaporation.

Emitter systems are most effective when combined with coarse
mulch or black plastic.
Drip systems sometimes clog with soil particles or mineral salts
from spring or well
water. But some new designs include filters and self-flushing
emitters.

“Plants don’t waste water. People do,” McLaurin says.