2022 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, I must admit I haven't watered my garden at all this year, I have a few things in pots that have been watered when it was very hot and they were starting to look a bit crispy and they have all pulled through. Plants in the garden are told when planted they have 2 choices, live or die it's up to you there will be very little molly coddling and so far I have only lost a couple of agapanthus when we had the beast from the east and it was freezing for about 6 weeks and I have never had much luck with lupins or tulips. I think I am lucky though as I have good topsoil about a foot deep over clay so once they get their roots down there is water. I do have a compost bin and a leaf mould bin as well as wood ash that I scatter around whenever they are ready to use. I just spread it on the top and leave the worms to drag it down, no digging unless I'm planting something and everthing seems to grow like Billy oh, I am always chopping stuff back. 
Take care everyone

Laura_Elsewhere

MrsCD said:

My dad has a theory that once you start to water plants  they get thirsty for more. So his garden which is plants in pots on gravel and very narrow borders, is doing fine  mostly. Maybe he just foresaw climate change long before it was fashionable!

Yes, the old gardeners used to call it "growing plants hard" as opposed to growing them soft - but I've never watered the main flowerbeds, only the little kitchen garden raised bed - but my problem is that the garden is carved from the edge of a very large coppiced woodland so there are literally dozens of mature deciduous trees three foot behind my flowerbeds, and every one of those trees is under terrific drought-stress this summer and they are just sucking every drop from the ground... 

MrsCD

Oh dear  Laura, you have my sympathy. Those trees will suck any moisture they can get. Could you put any of your plants into containers for now for a bit tlc?

Laura_Elsewhere

@MrsCD, I think anything that's going to pull through has roots to Australia, and the rest is now gawn-an'-never-'called-me-Muvver! 

My dentist's appt for tomorrow has jsut been cancelled, giving me an unexpected half-day - so I'm trying to get almost everything done today so that I can assign all of tomorrow to sewing that skirt!  

CapricornLass

We're down to using grey water for the pots that have flowers/are non food.  I also save the water from running the tap to get hot water through, usually get about 4 pints each time that way.  Unfortunately the promised thunderstorms and deluges never turned up here.  The gentle rain from the day before was only intermittent showers, and our soil is still very dry..

I sympathise with the tree roots, Laura.  We are contending with a full grown horse chestnut, a full grown walnut, and assorted fruit trees, all in our neighbours garden!

Laura_Elsewhere

We've thought very hard about grey water but it's just not feasible - top-floor rented flat, so even carrying it involves two flights of stairs, ending up at the wrong side of the building so then along the long passage to the back, then out the two doors (one push and one pull, obviously), up five outside steps, and along a hundred yards to the guerilla garden...! 

I've got nearly everything done today, so I can sew tomorrow... 

Oh, and I swam just over 500 metres this morning in 'my' quarry. In May I was absolutely delighted that for the first time I had managed a whole length of the fourteen-metre open-air swimming-pool; this was four lengths of a quarry approx 115-120 metres long, and then my swimming companion wanted to do some fast swimming just to the halfway point and back so I raced her and she was a bit startled that my fairly unique doggy-paddle kept up with her front crawl  
She was Australian-born and bred, so part-mermaid - rather nicely, she is nearly as pleased as I am  

Three months from having to put my foot down after 6 metres, to swimming over 500m in a 70-foot quarry... 

Cherryfudge

 Re: watering plants, I think it was my parents who told me that root growth responds to water, which I understood as meaning that tiny capillary roots form in well watered conditions but aren't tough enough to survive drier conditions. Thicker roots wouldn't dry out as easily so those are what get the plant through tough times. This is more guess-work than science on my part but if you think about delicate-leaved plants that dry out in the heat, versus cacti or succulents that conserve water by the way they are structured, I think there may be truth in it. It would tie in well with plants getting used to being watered less.

@Laura_Elsewhere - fabulous! That's quite an achievement! (Please say you never swim alone though - I remember someone drowned in a quarry near where I lived, partly because it was so steep and so much colder than the air temperature. ). 

Laura_Elsewhere

@Cherryfudge - don't worry - I would never ever swim alone. If the person I've arranged to swim with doesn't turn up, I shall simply sit and enjoy the beautiful trees and birds and light on the water, staying ashore and fully-dressed. 

It's all down to my local 'Bluetits' group, and that really is just the very best name ever, for the purpose They are brilliant, and made sure I understood all the dangers and risks, and one thing they are very very clear on is that you never ever ever plunge straight in, either diving, jumping or even just running into the water - you go in gradually, letting your breathing adjust, and take as long as you need - and also, that if you just don't feel like it, then you don't. Nobody ever ever criticises anyone for getting out, but they're very clear they would criticise someone for forcing themselves to swim when they didn't feel like it. You never go by how long you stayed in last time or how far you usually swim; you just only ever do what you feel is right for you that day. 
They're great... 

TwibbleDee

There is now water in our "moat" (the ditch running across the front of our property again.

The last time I remember there being rain that actually left standing water was at the end of July/beginning of August LAST YEAR.  I was at an outdoor concert that got flooded in about 5 minutes for that one.  It was glorious!

PipneyJane

@Laura_Elsewhere you should be proud of yourself.  You have turned into quite a swimmer.  Well done!

Talking of drought and plants, Alys Fowler wrote an interesting column in Monday’s Grauniad about drought proofing your garden.  The only tip I can offer is one I learned as a child, which is about adding a reservoir to your containers for watering, to decrease evaporation and maximise water uptake.  Chop the bottom off a plastic bottle, put a few holes in the neck end (or leave the lid off), then bury the neck end in your container, near the plant.  To water, fill the bottle.  The water will gradually seep out, with minimal evaporation.

TwibbleDee said:

There is now water in our "moat" (the ditch running across the front of our property again.

The last time I remember there being rain that actually left standing water was at the end of July/beginning of August LAST YEAR.  I was at an outdoor concert that got flooded in about 5 minutes for that one.  It was glorious!

@TwibbleDee how much rainfall have you had?  That sounds most unexpected.

- Pip