As any gardener could have told you for several years now, climate change is upon us. But many long-time gardeners will also tell us that they have had challenges in the past, and that this is simply part of the life of a gardener - going with the flow of Mother Nature and sometimes striving to thrive in spite of  what she sends our way. Below, we talk about the essentials of gardening in dry conditions and what plants really love the heat!(words in italics are defined for you on our Terms and Techniques page)

 THESE ARE THE ESSENTIAL THINGS TO DO TO HELP YOUR GARDEN SURVIVE THE DROUGHT:

- Mulch, mulch, mulch - you can not do with out it. Pine straw and pine bark chips are very popular here in the South, because we have many pine trees. Also, try free tree chips from the municipalities and tree companies. Underneath the mulch, we have weed cloth where possible. This is not black plastic, but a weed barrier that really helps retain moisture while allowing water to seep through to your plants from above. Over time, the mulch will degrade on top of the weed cloth, so we lift the cloth once every year and let the old mulch slide under the cloth, then replace the cloth and add new mulch on top. This won't work where we have bulbs planted or are growing plants from  seed, but it's essential around trees and shrubs.  

- Add organic matter. It is amazing how much more drought tolerant plants are if you add some organic matter as you plant, or if the thing is already in the ground and suffering, pull the mulch away, add some compost all round it, water, and put the mulch back on top. It really helps.

- Plant judiciously. If you really need to make new plantings, don't plant more than you can water yourself from whatever legal source of water you have.  Do not succumb to a plant shopping frenzy when the lovely new plants show up in garden centers. Plan what you can reasonably water and plan for plants that are tolerant of dry conditions. Garden centers are showcasing drought tolerant plants, and plant tags will note this as well. Drought tolerant plants are only drought tolerant once they have been established, so they will need watering till they have made new roots into the surrounding soil, and that could be several months, at least.

-Plant at the right time. Here in Atlanta and south of here, you can plant shrubs that have been kept outside at a nursery anytime in the winter when the soil is not mucky (sticks to your shovel like glue) and it's not going to freeze in the next week or so.  Plant perennials in March or later. Don't plant annuals (even if they have lovely ones at your garden center) till after the last average frost date, which in Atlanta is April 15th. Yes, the garden center displays always tempt us, too, but resist and wait or be willing to gamble! Conversely, get all your planting done before mid May, because once it hots up around here, your plants will be starting out stressed if they did not get settled before the high temps set in. Do not plant in June, July, August and early September in the Deep South, Southwest, or Midwest. Your plants will not thrive, they will just struggle along at best.

-Once it's really hot, don't plant! Plan on doing your hardscaping improvements during the hot weather and using the summer to improve the artistic side of your garden, with garden art, and comfortable places to sit and dine. Use those upcoming sultry days and evenings to plan out your fall planting plans and do your research. Do not try to plant once daytime temperatures top 80 degrees consistently.

-Plant in the right place. Some plants that were happy in full sun (when we used to get more rain and/or could do more outdoor watering) are now happier in part sun .  An example from our garden is elephant ears. We love the huge bright green leaves- they look exotic and tropical in the full sun with all sorts of bright colored, sun loving flowers. But they just didn't do well at all in full sun once they weren't getting the regular watering. So it's into the shade for them. Try to move plants that aren't doing well in the very early spring, if possible, so that they can get established before the hot summer sets in again.

-Forget about small pots. Sorry, but you just can't water them enough in the summer to keep them happy. No planted pots outdoors that are less than 12 inches in diameter is our rule. We do have smaller pots on the screen porches - those don't dry out so much. Also, in winter, pots smaller than 12 inches are no good because they can freeze solid. Visit our Container Planting page to see many planted pot options and see how we created some drought tolerant summer container plantings!

-Water. This sounds crazy in a way, to water to make plants drought proof, but whatever you plant needs to have adequate water to get started till it makes new roots that can seek out the (hopefully) moister soil down below. If you have no rain, water your new plant every day for ten days, and then water at five day intervals till it is established. If you don't have a way to legally water to this extent, sorry, you need to skip planting new things and concentrate on what you've got.

 - There is more to your garden than plants.                            Concentrate on the other features of your garden, such as seating and dining areas, entry areas, and  art! These details express your personality just as much as the plantings you choose. For more on beyond plants, click here. To see our Garden Art Gallery, click here!

- Consider Native Plants. Plants that are indigenous to your region have become accoustomed to the climate over a long period of time. The hot dry summers of the deep south are the usual fare for native perennials like many varieties of Coreopsis, Aster, Phlox and others. For more about Native Plants, visit the Georgia Native Plant Society website: http://www.gnps.org/plantpages/index.html . For more links to  Native Plant groups in other states, visit our Sources page.

- Plant Drought Tolerant Plants. Many of the best plants for your garden will be those that are native, since they have proven durable through many sorts of weather cycles. For a list of suggestions for perennials and shrubs, see below. Remeber, it is only once they are established that the plants will be drought tolerant. Here's a quote from the spring issue of the Atlanta Botanical Garden's Clippings magazine: " Plants that stand up to dry conditions can possess physical characteristics that allude to their drought tolerance. Some clues to look for include: fleshy stems and leaves like agaves and sedums, waxy coated leaves like wax begoinas, silver or gray foliage like sudty miller , narrow leaves like purple fountian grass and diamond frost euphorbia, and a ground hugging habit like portulaca and verbena."

-Plant for long term, easy-care. Shrubs, once established, can be the best bet of all. When planting shurbs, think about bloom time, and when you want color in certian areas.

Some of our favorite drought tolerant shrubs include:

  •  Itea 'Henry's Sweetspire', glossy green foliage turning to bronze in fall, spikes of fragrant white blossoms in spring.
  • Spirea - our favorite is the old-timey Bridal Wreath Spirea, with circlets of delicate white blooms in spring.
  • Abelia grandiflora - the bees love the pink and white blooms in summer and we love the evergreen, glossy foliage.
  • Acuba japonica  - good deep shade evergreen with large red berries in winter
  • Nandina  - huge sprays of red berries in winter, fall leaf color.
  • Butterfly bush (Buddelia) - blooms from summer through fall, colors include white, lavender, purples, and yellow 
  • Althea (Hibiscus syriacus) - the common farm yard kind is what we want here - pink, lavender or white blooms in summer. Can be trained to a standard very easily.
  • Elaeagnus - Silvery leaves and spiny stems on rugged soft brown stems. Pinch back as it grows to develop branching and create a dense growing shrub that can be clipped into almost any shape. Best used this way, rather than letting it take its own form, as it will become invasive
  • Pyracantha - see photo above. Red, orange or yellow berries follow early summer fragrant white blooms -favorites of birds and bees. Best trained on a wall so as not to eat space, they provide needed winter color with the profuse sprays of berries. Important to choose when berrying if you have a red brick house, so as not to create disastrous clashing of brick and berry color.
  • Beautyberry (Callicarpa) - White or purple berries, beloved of birds, are held on arching stems. Can be trained as a standard for a small garden 
  • Forsythia - Indispensable  shrub in the garden for its four petaled golden blooms in late winter. Do not place in a small place and prune it to the shape of a ball - place where it can grow to its natural size of 6 ft x 6 ft. Can be pruned after blooming, but cut near base to encourage return of long branching stems instead of short growth of sticks.
  • Wegelia - spreading ,arching, decidous shrub. Best variety is
  • Hollies, especially chinese and Youpon (Ilex vomitoria) 
  • Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)
  • Lorpetalum
  • Junipers
  • Hawthornes

 Perennials for dry sites - some of the best:

  • Rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susan) -    R. Maxima or R. fulgida
  • Asters- Stokes' Aster (Stokesia laevis; Boltonia (B. asteroides 'Snowbank' - this spreads quickly and gives starry white flowers that look like a cloud from a distance ; the tall, purple Tartarian Aster (A. tartaricus); A. novae-angliae
  • Eupatoriums - Joe Pye Weed - (E. purpureum) tall round heads of rosy purple flowers in early to mid fall; Hardy Ageratum (E. coelestinum) - after a while, you find it every where in the garden, but it is easy to pull out the ones you don't want and it's so welcome at the end of the hot summer - fuzzy purple blooms on 12-16 inch stems - lovely in wildflower arrangements.
  • Many herbs originate from hot dry climates, and like gritty soil with good drainage on the dry side - lavender, rosemary (photo), thyme. 
  • For nooks and crannies in hot dry sites, try all the neat little sedums - they range in color from deep gray green to newer cultivars with yellow-orange foliage. Most sedums have small yellow blooms off and on all summer. See how we created a summertime display of Sedums in strawberry jars on our Container Planting page! 
  • Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) is another creeper that can take dry conditions, blooming throughout spring and early summer with white blooms held above deep green foliage.
  •  Thrift or Creeping phlox is an old standby for slopes that are hot and dry.
  • Also try Bugleweed
  • (Ajuga) for dry shade - it makes a flat carpet of bronzed foilage and has lovely purple blooms in spring. Try A.'Chocolate Chip' for striking brownish  foliage and blue blooms - this is a Proven Winners introduction.
  • Artemesias - A. 'Powis Castle'; A. 'Silver King' - feathered, white-silvery foliage.
  • Coneflowers (Echinacea)
  • Irises - especially Siberian and bearded types - there are enough varieties to take you from very early spring through summer.
  • Daylilies - trouble free, lovely long bright green grassy foliage, and with good choices, you can have blooms from the first day of summer through to fall.
  • 'Knockout' Roses- bloom unceasingly all summer and on and off through fall.
  • Lantana- slow to start up until the soil is truly warm, these shrubby half-hardy tropical perennials will bloom from early summer till frost with no attention at all.
  • Yuccas , Agave, Aloe (of course) - great to give the spiky punctuation mark in the garden, especially in containers. Be careful about the winter hardiness of some of the agaves.
  • Guaras (Wandflower) this is so delicate and airy - great for front of the border, blooming in mid-summer.
  • Verbenas - the deep purple, 'Homestead' , many of the spreading white flowered varieties.
  • Tall Yellow Daisies (Helianthus) - Swamp Sunflower (H. simulans)
  • Coral Bells (Huchera) - good for shade, and being offered in an increasing array of leaf color. Look for new varities with orangey or deep purple foliage and also dainty looking varigated types.
  • Euphorbias - a huge family of plants with something for everyone. See the Southeast Flower Show page to read about a new red-leaved variety.
  • Mexican Hyssop (Agastache mexicana) and Anise Hyssop (A. rupetris) - tall plumes of coral, lavender, or red-orange blossoms, some varieties top out at 5 feet tall or more. Try A. 'Color Spires Steel Blue,' a Proven Winners selection.
  • Many  Sages (Salvias), some for the herb garden and many more for the flower border. Try S. greggi, a red sage that grows to 4 feet with small brilliant red blooms beloved of hummingbirds. Pineapple Sage was a favorite of Elizabeth Lawrence: "Each spring I try to remember to order the wonderfully fragrant S. dorisiana and S.elegans, the pineapple sage. The large velvety green leaves smell like a basket of ripe fruit. These sages come in very small pots, but they grow very fast and by the end of the summer they are handsome bushes three or four feet tall. They do not live over the winter. The pineapple sage begins to bloom in late Septemberand blooms on until heavy frost, sometimes even into November. Its flowers are carmine." (Beautiful at all Seasons, see Sources.)  S. Mexicana will attain 3 feet by season's end and has plushy, velvety grey-green leaves and bumpy, velvet lavender blooms. Bees adore it!

     

     Books with great ideas for dry spots and other difficult garden areas:

     -- Tough Plants for Tough Places, Peter Loewer, Rodale Press 1992

    --The Southern Gardener's Book of Lists, Lois Trigg Chaplin, Taylor Publishing  1994

    More literary sources - click here!

    • Here are three of our faves -sites to learn how to make your own rainbarrel:

  •  http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gardening/article/0,,HGTV_3546_2165903,00.html