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Timely Drought Tips for Home Gardeners
Dr. John Lea-Cox, nursery and greenhouse specialist with the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension, suggests home gardeners follow some simple tips to conserve water while maintaining their plants during periods of drought:
- Install low-volume (drip) irrigation systems in ornamental beds with automatic timers, preferably timers with rain cut-off switches. If you already have large-volume sprinkler systems, ensure that grounds managers/contractors only irrigate when necessary.
- Mulch ornamental bed areas with a good quality composted mulch (e.g. leaf compost), or with large pine bark chips. Using uncomposted mulches (look for wood fiber in the mulch) will contribute to plant nitrogen deficiencies in summer, resulting in yellowed, sickly plants.
- Only irrigate once every few days, unless you have very sandy soils.
- Irrigate in the early morning hours, for no longer than two hours if you are using sprinkler systems. Drip systems will need four to six hours (on average) to wet the root zone completely.
- If you have recently installed specimen trees, purchase "gator bags," which can be filled once a week with a hose. These bags wrap around the trunk of the tree and slowly dispense water to the root zone. They are available at many garden centers and cost about $25 each- which for a $500 tree is cheap insurance.
- Prioritize your landscape areas. It may not be possible to maintain beds with annuals adequately through a drought. Consider planting drought-tolerant groundcover plants instead to maintain an attractive area.
For more drought-related garden information, check out the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Home and Garden Information website at http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/hgic/
For more information contact:
Dr. John Lea-Cox, 301-405-4323 or jl207@umail.umd.edu
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