Three ways to deal with beloved gardens, and drought

This garden gets more water than any other place on the acreage. I replaced a plant today with a purple mum (center, near sidewalk), and watered it as deeply as I could.

Since the first of August I've gotten up early every day and started watering ... Something.

There are annuals and perennials in the gardens, and all plants certainly struggled during the weeks that delivered searing heat and absolutely no rain. Even the derecho on Aug. 10 featured tremendous  sustained winds and caused untold damages, but only an estimated two-tenths of one inch of rain in our yard.

Garden experts agree: Most annuals and perennials do need 1 inch of water, once each week. But such a challenge in this year that seems to post a daunting challenge nearly every day!

Richard Jauron, a noted horticulturalist at Iowa State University, Ames, identifies three ways to deal with drought:

1. Soil moisture can be conserved by mulching a planting bed with wood chips, dry grass clippings, shredded leaves or other suitable materials, he wrote in an e-mail message. Iowa State Extension publishes information, "Organic Mulches" that can be downloaded at: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/5703

2. When watering, do an area slowly and deeply. The objective is to moisten the upper 8-12 inches of soil. A thorough watering once a week is sufficient for most annuals and perennials, Jauron wrote.

3. There are annuals and perennials that tolerate dry periods quite well, Jauron said. Watering chores can be reduced by planting drought-tolerant plants in the first place. Find suggestions in a publication, "Drought Tolerant Annuals and Perennials," which can be downloaded here: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/6553

I didn't think much could top the current COVID-19 pandemic until we experienced the derecho Aug. 10. Some of my neighbors have simply given up trying to keep up watering chores. "My arms are just tired from this," said one.

The forecast now is for rain on Sunday. We can only hope!

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