By Pat Dray
The Garden Spot
Pat Dray
According to the US Drought Monitor, 100 percent of Connecticut is now suffering from abnormally dry conditions, with 46 percent suffering from moderate drought. This means that crop growth is stunted and fire danger is elevated with increased wildfires and ground fires.
Even though April was the 45th wettest April recorded over the past 128 years, our drought conditions persist because 2022 to date is the 55th driest year over those same 128 years. Since dry conditions seem to be a pattern, our best gardening strategy right now is to plant fewer plants that like moist conditions and more that are drought tolerant.
We can begin by looking at what is one of the highest residential water uses – the lawn. Please let your lawn go dormant. It will come back once we get a rainy period. If you have irrigation, remember that the roots of plants will seek the water level, so deep watering will result in deep roots which are more resistant to insect damage and plant disease.
Your lawn and gardens need about 1 inch of water a week, so keep your rain gauge (or an empty tuna can) out and monitor the amount of rainwater. If it hasn’t rained and you really must – must – have that green lawn, irrigate once a week for a total of 1 inch.
The worst possible scenario is daily watering for 15-20 minutes per zone. Your lawn has not been properly watered; the roots will remain at the surface, and here come the grubs and voles to eat those handy roots. If you’re reseeding or top seeding your lawn this fall, choose a tall fescue, since as well as being drought tolerant it’s also wear resistant.
As we look at our trees and shrubs, we can also seek out those that are most drought tolerant. One of our most popular trees that are native to the Northeast is the oak (in the Quercus family). Oaks support biodiversity, are home to many different pollinators, are strong, upright growers and wonderful shade trees. So choose one, such as the scarlet oak, which will require less water rather than thirsty varieties such as the pin oak or swamp white oak.
For shrubs, consider those in the juniper family (Juniperus) rather than azalea (Rhododendron family). The junipers are some of the best natives to plant in badly degraded, infertile dry areas with poor soil. Some varieties do well on rocky, dry slopes.
There are many flowering wildflowers that are also suitable for dry areas, including milkweed and butterfly weed (Asclepias family) that are very pollinator friendly. Swap out the Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium family) for these, and you’ll still have a butterfly garden.
Happy gardening, and hope to see you all at the Fireman’s Carnival.