Hello everybody,
it seems the climate warming will affect all kinds of plants.
Here in Crete we are happy with geraniums, bougainvilleas, marigolds and some locally wild growing plants.
I have heard that it is possible to keep more water around the plants' roots by burying rags, plastic bags etc deep under the plant before it is initially planted. Any particular accurate and tried technique??
water - retaining techniques: anything special??
I try to get a lot of humus into the soil and mulch around the plants to conserve moisture. Drip irrigation is much more efficient than sprinkling. I have also heard of using cocoanut hulls that come shredded, dried and pressed into a block to hold water in your soil (have not tried it) and polymer crystals are also a new thing but I haven't tried them either.
Late last fall I started putting torn up black and white nonglossy newspaper and junk mail in the spaces I dug up and cleared of stones, and this spring I've been doing the same with composting straw--more because of need for humus in the sandy soil than anticipation of drought. I've noticed that the stuff in or near the newspaper/straw areas so far needs less watering, which is good since we are currently at one-third or less of normal precipitation.
DP Michaeal Welcome to the Xeriscaping Forum!
Yes I have, dug a large hole put in a trash bag and filled the bag with 1/2 compost,1/2 native soil, then planted a tomato plant in it. It works great. Leave the bag a little open at the top. You have to give it a little air. And as I have said before If you have sandy soil. Clay is a great ammendment. Sunflower taught me this. Ideal soil is 1/3 rough sand( for air circulation) 1/3 compost, 1/3 clay
Some nurseries carry the clay. But not here. I kept looking for a cat litter that says its OK to use in the garden. Susie Q cat litter here in CA. USA.Dont use clumping cat litter,or any kind with antibacterial chemicals. It will say on the litter if it is ok. I looked at 3 stores. The cheapest seems to be the winner. $ 3. for 25 lbs. just clay. Helps potted plants too.And alot less expensive than those water holding crystals. I have bought that too. If you have clay desert soil, add sand. Sunflower said Rough sand is ideal. If you follow the 1/3 combo it will not turn it to cement.Do a spot and experiment.
This will save you so much water! I have also used news papers, Like little blocks still in their binding. and put bark over it so it looks nice. Also helps keep the plants warm in winter too.
What i used to do when i was growing vegetables was dig a trench put a lot of newspapers down and really soak them so that if we had a drought(which we have had) they had a ready reservoir, and it does work.
Michele,
I purchased Schultz soil conditioner from WalMart, 40lb for 4bucks. The original price was $12. This is turface, high temp fired clay.
OH thankyou Tim! I will definitly get some!
This will save me a fortune in water!!!
DP
A belated greetings from me to you. I have been gardening in coastal southern California which shares many of the climatic patterns with Crete. We average about 30 cm of rainfall coming during the winter months; summer dry but cool and often foggy.
You mentioned nothing about the quality of your soil, how quickly water drains through it, how deep is the soil to rock or an impervious zone. As a professional gardener, I must manage soils ranging from dark sticky clays to red rock/clay matrix to alluvial sandy loams to sand dunes. Give me a heavy clay soil anytime for water conservation.
So give us more information. The ideas already offered can help, with quality organic material being the best choice. My second choice is mulching the surface around the plants with inorganic materials. My third technique is to plant in trenches or holes and where appropriate, plant on the east side of rocks.
Marshall