Expert shares gardening tips for incoming drought
JACKSON, Tenn. — Beginner gardeners, there are some tips for taking care of your plants during a dry forecast.
With little to no rain in the forecast over the next several days, we gathered some tips for gardening in an extended dry period with help from Research Horticulturist Jason Reeves.
“So, you really want to concentrate on plants that have been planted most recently. Things that are well established or your trees shrubs and landscapes should be fine, but things that were planted this spring or this summer? [You] really need to check on those first because they’ll be the most likely to suffer from drought,” said Reeves.
In an ideal week, your garden would receive one inch of rainfall.
That very likely won’t happen over the next seven days, so make sure you check your soil’s moisture content and water your plants accordingly. More than likely, you’ll need to water every two to three days maximum.
“Symptoms of wilt: if the foliage is kind of drooping down and you definitely want to check to be sure the ground is actually dry before you water them. If you have irrigation systems, you can actually kill plants from overwatering, so, be sure the soil is actually dry before you water,” said Reeves.
Be careful because overwatering and underwatering have very similar symptoms, but different mechanisms.
Overwatering wilt occurs because the plant’s roots begin to break down and lose the ability to take in water. Underwatering wilt occurs because there is not enough moisture in the soil to sustain the plant.
“If you have an automatic irrigation system, in periods of drought you may be running it more, but when you start getting rainfall, you need to adjust that irrigation system to where it’s not overwatering, and you can actually buy a device that sits on your irrigation system that collects rainfall and will adjust for that,” said Reeves.
Make sure you check to see if some of your plants are drought-resistant. You don’t need to drop a fortune on a probe to check your soil’s moisture.
Reeves recommends just digging a hole 2 inches deep and using a finger to feel the soil directly.
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