Caring for Your Native Plant Garden in Drought Conditions

Many gardens are already dry.

Established Drought Tolerant Plants

If you garden in the central part of the Chesapeake watershed, you may have noticed, despite a rainy day here or there, your garden is quite dry. You may have some really drought tolerant native plants in your garden such as bluestar, coreopsis, mountain mint or wild petunia. These will be in fairly good shape. For plants that need a bit more moisture, drought conditions can be tough.

I've been giving the dry conditions a bit of thought because these conditions are coinciding with my newly planted full sun garden. This full sun garden was almost all shade just over a year ago. Then a 100 plus year old massive tree, a Siberian elm, had to be removed due to safety issues. After a quick relocate of shade loving plants to recessed corners of my garden, I began replanting the garden for sun. Which means right now I have a lot of newly planted perennials, shrubs and trees! Not wanting to waste water, particularly with so many drought watches and warnings about, I am thinking a lot about water.

Newly Planted Plants Need Regular Watering to Establish

This is an oft repeated phrase but what does it really mean? First, some plants establish oh so quickly. Perennial bluestars (Amsonia tabernaemontana) planted last summer, are already putting on more growth and show themselves to be established. As drought tolerant plants in the first place, they seem like good candidates to live on their own without extra water.

Shrubs and trees take much longer to establish, up to several years and require regular watering during that time. I have shrubs and trees planted last year that wilt on sunny days. This is a coping mechanism plants have to conserve water. If they bounce back by the following morning, you know they are coping. If they are still wilted the next morning, they were not able to bounce back and need water.

Some plants are frequent wilters. Wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) fall into this category. The first question for a frequent wilter is whether the plant is located in the best location in the first place? Do you have a more shaded or moister area of your garden where the frequent wilter would be happier? If so, a move might make your life and the plant's life much easier.

Is the frequent wilter properly planted? Sometimes plants that are frequent wilters were inadvertently planted a bit high compared to the surrounding soils. Replanting so the plants root ball surface is even with or even slightly lower than the surrounding soil can often fix a wilting problem.

no berm

with berm

Creating mini-berms around newly planted plants can help. Sometimes, you can move soil around to create a very small berm which will be just high enough to prevent water from moving away from the base of the plant. I recently added several mini-berms, really three inches or so, around shrubs and trees planted last year to make sure water makes it to the base of the plant..

Best Practices for Planting & Transplanting During a Drought

During a drought is not a good time to plant new plants or transplant but if it can't be avoided, try these techniques to make your chances of success higher. Transplant in the evening after the temperatures begin to cool. If you can select an evening before a cooler day, or a rainy day, all the better!

Once you have excavated the hole for the plant, water the hole directly with several inches of water and let it seep down into the ground before planting. Soak the rootball of the plant before planting. You can actually submerge the rootball in water in a bucket first.

Once you have placed the plant in its new location and backfilled the soil, gently tamp down the surrounding soil and then water the surface of the soil immediately around the base of the plant. This is critical for eliminating any air pockets.

Best Practices for Watering

Water is less likely to evaporate in the early morning or early evening so these are the best times to water. Also, avoid watering on windy days - evaporation rates are very high. A slow drip at the base of the plant is always best.

How much to water? An oft repeated recommendation is 1" a week. That is a generic tree watering recommendation based on a 1" diameter tree. A newly planted tree with a 1" diameter needs about 10 gallons of water a week. A 2" diameter tree needs 20 gallons a week. Watering deeply once a week is far better than more frequent shallow waterings. Frequent light watering can encourage tree roots to stay at the surface of the soil when the tree will actually be much healthier if roots grow downward. Casey trees has an excellent short video on tree watering.

For newly planted shrubs of any size, I more or less start with the 10 gallons a week recommendation and adjust downward, depending on the size of the shrub. For newly planted perennials, I use the wilt test. If it is wilted in the morning, I provide some water. My goal is to provide enough water so that it does not need more for another week. There is a lot of trial and error!

For established perennials and grass lawns, I let nature take its course. Plants are adaptable and can adapt. Just as they wilt to preserve energy on a hot day, they can go dormant if drought conditions are persistent. Over the years, I have come to realize that most will regrow either later in the season or the next spring. The dormancy is a coping mechanism for droughty conditions.

Side Garden July 2024

This was my side garden in 2024. A three week period without rain coincided with my being away. These plants all came back by fall or the following spring including the dwarf crested iris in the planters. Plants can be truly resilient!

Collect Water If At All Possible

Treated tap water is not the best for plants due to added disinfectants. Plants fare much better with rainwater. There are lots of systems and options out there. Connecting a down spout to a rain barrel is very easy. You can either do this yourself or hire someone. Roofers and gutter cleaners are good candidates for this if you don't have rain barrel installation service in your area.

rain barrel stand

secure access

downspout diverter

metal spigot

A couple of things I have learned along the way have made using a rain barrel much easier. Elevate the spigot so it is actually convenient to use. A spigot 3" off the ground is not that practical. There are lots of ways to elevate and rain barrel stands are available online.

Make sure the ground on which the barrel will be located is perfectly level. It's worth the extra effort to avoid having to reinstall. The slightest angle can turn into a problem when the barrel is full and extra water immediately adjacent to your house is never a good thing.

Look for a completely enclosed system with no gaps that would allow a mosquito to enter or places where water could accumulate on the exterior of the barrel. Having a diverter on the downspout enables you to direct rainwater away from the barrel if there is a need for that. Also, a metal spigot is much longer lasting than a plastic one. Last, a flat back to the rain barrel is a space saver in smaller gardens.

I have had great luck with this one and am adding a second barrel as we speak. I wish there were a good non-plastic alternative but I have not found it. Do you have a favorite?

Use that water! I know. It sounds ridiculous but when the hose is closer, that's what I reach for. So I have made a house rule. I can't use the hose until the rain barrel is empty.... lol. You will get a meaningful amount of water from even a small roof like mine. Your plants will thank you.

Drought Tolerant Plants

A lot of this comes back to getting the right plant in the right place which is one of the more challenging parts of gardening. When you figure it out though, it makes caring for your garden during droughty conditions easier. There are so many native plants noted for their drought tolerance. Here is a post about ten that are easy to grow.

Do you have watering tips? Favorite drought coping tips? Favorite drought tolerant plants? Please do share!

Happy Gardening.