A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum global warming vs my gardens

Anyone have any ideas on gardening for the future? We live in Northeast Wisconsin where it was extra dry this summer..kinda of a weird dryness...my roses are going kaput no matter how much I water, our vegetable garden is going kaput.. I told a surgeron at work I wanted to start growing cactus, he said with the lack of rain even they would dry up...so any ideas folks?

Hi Tiny - I'll leave ideas for dry gardens to those better placed to give them as here in England we have just had what is offically our wettest summer since records began!

Well if your local governments allow for it catching rainwater and storing it is a good idea.

Also using grey water is a good idea.

Then when you do water a plant water it deep so that the roots go deep. The deeper the roots go the more drought tolerant the plant will be.

Next use plants that are drought tolerant in the first place.

Also make sure you use plenty of compost in your garden. The biomatter will absorb the water rather than allowing it to run off.

A good mulch will also help your soil retain moisture.

If you get flooding once a year or so like some areas you might want to think of a cystern. A plastic one was on a tv program today it's weight was 180 pounds for a 11,000 gallon tank.

That's about all I can think of at the moment but I'm sure people will have many more suggestions for you.

I forgot drip irrigation is also a fantastic way to conserve water. It puts the water where it needs to be and helps prevent many types of plant diseases as well.