Creating A Drought Resistant Garden - New Zealand

1. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Drought conditions are a fact of life in our changing climate. Though most of us rely on tank
water, by following some drought-wise garden water tips there are many ways you can control
water use and not have to give up gardening!
When planning and planting your garden, plan for drier periods, and reduce or eliminate
watering requirements by using more drought tolerant plants and better gardening techniques
Practical hints to help your garden survive dry or drought conditions:
- Use compost to condition your soil – this will improve the level of nutrients and structure in
the soil and therefore moisture retention and general health of plants to enable them to better
withstand heat and drought stress.
- Fertilise in early spring and avoid fertilizers that will promote rank leafy growth- any soft
growth will not survive the first dry spell and plants will struggle. If your soil is heavy clay then
cultivate it deeply and add gypsum to the soil to help prevent it baking hard when dry.
- Add Saturaid to improve water retention by 50%! Completely natural and organic – this
stuff is amazing! Renew it in late spring each year
- Crystal Rain is a wetting agent that should always be added at planting time for plants that
may be stressed by dry conditions
- Mulch, mulch. mulch! Use mulches that will improve water retention like compost, bark,
pea-straw and gravel. Apply mulch before the summer heat dries out the soil and you will find it
always stays moist beneath the mulch blanket. Layers of wet newspaper or old woollen carpet,
laid beneath your mulch will further increase moisture retention and extend the life of the mulch.
- Lawns consume more water than most gardens so limit your lawn area, mow less often
when it’s dry and set the blades on your mower higher to help prevent scorching and browning
off in your lawn. Saturaid can also be used on lawns
- And remember – your garden is an investment so buying water to protect that investment
may well save you money!
Watering
So how can you save or recycle water, or use less?
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2. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
- Water in the early morning, when there is less heat and wind, so less water is lost to
evaporation. Timers on automatic watering systems make watering very early much easier.
- Don't use overhead sprinklers, which may lose over half the water to evaporation, Manual
watering, soaker hoses, or drip systems are much more effective. Soaker hoses or drip
systems placed near plants provide a slow trickle of water to the root zone. Cover these hoses
with mulch and lose even less water to the air,
- Water deeply and less often rather than for shorter periods more often. This allows water
to penetrate deeper encouraging deeper roots that are more resistant to drought. Lawns and
bedding plants should be watered to at least six inches deep. Perennials, shrubs and trees
should be watered to at least 300mm deep. Use a rain gauge to check - 25ml will wet a sandy
soil to a depth of about 300mm.
- Water established plants only if really needed and once they begin to wilt. Many
perennials and woody plants may wilt, and not perform best if dry, but will survive. This is
especially true if they were healthy and well watered prior to drought conditions.
Collecting, Saving Water
- Repair leaks in hoses and fittings. This may be as simple as replacing the washers in
hose fittings.
- Collect wasted and "gray" water from your household. The latter is rinse water from
dishwashers and washing machines. When adjusting the hot and cold in baths and showers,
use a bucket to collect the water that would normally go down the drain before the temperature
is adjusted. You also can collect and reuse water from dehumidifiers or window air
conditioners.
- Collect water from downspouts of gutters, or divert these directly into flowerbeds
Plant Selection
When planning your garden try to use plants that are more drought resistant. There is a
wonderful selection of beautiful foliage and flowering plants that go into survival mode when
placed in a hot and dry position.
Seemingly contradictory in terms, all these plants will need a little water initially to establish their
root systems in the soil. But once established they become the camels of the plant kingdom.
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3. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
The term "xeriscaping" refers to dry climate gardening. Many people associate this term with
deserts, cacti, and succulent plants but it definitely does not mean "zero-landscaping."
Plants for dry conditions
A plant's foliage is one key as to where the plant will thrive in nature.
- Plants with grey or silvery foliage tend to be very adaptable to the dry conditions of
summer including Cistus (rock rose), Convolvulus, aromatic Lavenders and Rosemary; Arctotis,
the beautiful native daisy bushes - Olearia, Pachystegia and Brachyglottis and for brilliant, bold
effects, Phlomis. Pachystegia's are also adapted to dry, sunny areas because the hairs reflect
light and act like insulation, keeping the plant from overheating
- Plants that have small leaves are very efficient at producing food and lose relatively little
moisture such as Corokia, Pittosporums, Californian Ceanothus and Sophora microphyllia
(Kowhai)
- Waxy or fleshy leaves, such as those of succulents and cacti are designed to hold water;
echeverias, sedums, aloe and dracaenas
- For that tropical look go no further than the New Zealand icon, the cabbage tree (Cordylin
e australis
) or look at palms and yucca.
- The abundant selection of Flaxes, Astelia's, Coprosma, Libertias, Phormiums and Carex
provide that native flamboyant foliage and effect
- Australian banksias and grevilleas; South African proteas, leucospermums and
leucodendrons are wonderfully drought-resistant. Many of these are frost tender and perfect for
the milder dry climate of the North.
- Wonderful perennials that thrive in drier conditions are structural and spiky Echium
fatuosum, bold and brilliant Arctotis and Hemerocallis
- Some shade trees will grow happily once established without needing extra water – and
will conserve water for other plants. Silk trees (Albizzia julbrissin), Lagerstroemia and of course
our own Pohutukawa are good examples that thrive in the northern climate
Drought Hardy Plants
The following plants are commonly known to be drought hardy once established and are
reasonably readily available. This list is by no means exclusive
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4. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Acacia (Wattle)
A genus of shrubs and trees that tend to be thorny and pod-bearing with distinctive flattened leaves and
Anigozanthus (Kangaroos paws)
Summer flowering with varied colours from a dull yellow to combinations of green and red or orange. The
Arctotis
Exceptionally long flowering season from spring right through autumn. Adaptable, will grow in very poor
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5. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Arthropodium (Rengarenga lily)sun or shade, foliage looks good year round with masses of long stem
Happy in dry, poor soils, grows in
Small root palm
Bangalow ball makes it suitable for planting near buildings, paths and in pots.
Abundance of greyii
Brachyglottis bright yellow daisy like flowers during summer on a backdrop of grey-green felted foliage
Cactus and distinctive plants adapted to arid environments ranging from small and globular to tall and c
Unusual
Bottlebrushes (Bottlebrush)
Callistemons are woody shrubs from 0.5 m to 4 m tall with spectacular flowers that are irresistible to nec
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6. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Carex easy care native New Zealand sedge
A hardy
Ceanothus (Californian Lilac)
Fragrant colourful evergreen shrubs with pretty violet-blue flowers
Chinochloa flavicans (mini Toetoe) green, weeping foliage and tall spikes of fluffy white flowers thro
Hardy evergreen native grass with deep
Cistus (Rock rose)
Compact rounded shrub with grey-green leaves and clusters of varied coloured flowers from spring throu
Convolvulus mauritanicus
A vigorous evergreen perennial with lavender blue flowers from spring to autumn and soft, gray-green le
Coprosma
A large number of species of small leaved or divaricating shrubs in a variety of coloured foliage with sma
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7. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Cordyline australis(Cabbage tree)
Iconic native plant with tall slender trunk and crowns of strap like leaves and ability to withstand a wide v
Corokia
Native evergreens with varied coloured foliage from silver, grey-green through to chocolate, useful for he
Cotoneaster dammeri with white flowers and red berries, often used as ground cover
Climbing evergreen shrub
Dracaenas (Dragon Trees)
Group of tree-size species with stout trunks and stiff, broad-based leaves, growing in arid semi-desert ar
Echium fatuosum
Excellent foliage plant with gorgeous big purple-blue flower heads in spring.
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8. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Eucalyptus flowering gum trees that establish in poor soils and arid climates
Rapid growing
Euphorbia glauco (Sea spurge)
Coastal plant of ecological importance with a wide creeping habit, foliage varies from pastel green to vivi
Griselinia
Medium sized tree with leathery, bright green leaves and tiny green and yellow flowers followed by smal
Hibiscus richardsonii with creamy yellow flowers in summer
Perennial coastal herb
Juniperus
These evergreen feature trees are all very hardy and tolerant of extreme conditions
Lagerstroemia (Crepe myrtle) pink or magenta r in late summer.
Satiny trunk with flowers in white,
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9. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Lavender
Summer blooming perennial shrubs with many small fragrant spikes of flowers that attract bees and con
All year – NZ with
LibertiacolourIris bright golden strappy leaves and white flowers in spring followed by lasting golden se
Liriope
Low growing grass like evergreen ground cover with masses of flower spikes in summer
Lomandra and almost indestructible, low growing softly weeping foliage with attractive flower spikes in s
Evergreen
Mesembryanthemum
Prostrate succulent herbs covered with showy pink or white flowers that open during the day
Metrosideros (Pohutukawa)
Hardy evergreen trees with distinctive brilliant flowers in early summer
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10. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Olearia native shrub or tree with white to cream daisy flowers and leathery or glossy leaves that are w
Flowering
Pittosporum
Hardy evergreen selection of natives with varied foliage suitable for quick screening or hedging
Phormium
NZ Native with wide variety of hybrids in a range of colours and styles
Podocarpus (Totara) with thick stringy bark and brownish to bright green leaves
Tall, slow-growing trees
Portulaca (Sun Plant)
Trailing annual with sprawling stems , succulent, leaves and large flowers in an array of bright, beautiful
Pseudopanax
Remarkable small trees with varied foliage and distinctly different juvenile and adult forms. Native to scru
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11. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Rosemary
Woody perennial herb with fragrant evergreen needle-like leaves and tiny lavender flowers
Sanvitalia (Creeping Zinnia) zinnia like flowers all summer
Trailing annual with tiny yellow
Sedum
Large number of species of leaf succulents, varying from annual and creeping herbs to shrubs with wate
Succulents
A variety
of water
Vitex lucens (Puriri)green glossy palmate leaves and large colourful tubular flowers in winter. Very imp
Native tree with dark
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12. Creating a Drought Resistant Garden
Westringia brevifoliashrub with white flowers, dark green foliage and a covering of short hairs on new g
Easily grown shapely
Xeronema callistemon (Poor Knight’s Lily)
Stunning slow growing plant with fans of flax-like leaves and striking red flowers on tall stems in spring
better than most. this African Hardies
And by categorySouth is a paws) plants (by no means exclusive) that tolerate drought conditions
Australian and – grass)list of
Anigozanthus (Rengarenga lily)
Leucadendron(Kangaroos
Banksias and flaxes (Mini toetoe)
Callistemon flavicans
Eucalyptus (Mondo
Grevilleas Iris)
Leucospermum Daisy)
Proteas (NZ Tree
Westringia insignis (Marlborough Rock Daisy)
Evergreens (Totara)
Juniperus
Grasses richardsonii
CarexLucens (Puriri) (Poor Knight’s Lily)
Chinochloa callistemon
Liriope
Lomandra
Ophiopogon
Phormium
Natives
Arthropodium
Coprosma
Cordyline
Corokia and bushes
Griselinia (Californian Lilac)
Hibiscus
Libertia
Metrosiderosmauritanicus
Olearia(Rock Rose)
Pachystegia greyii
Pittosporum (Crepe myrtle)
Podocarpus
Pseudopanax
Vitex fatuosum (Sea Spurge)
Xeronema glauco
Perennials coronarius - Mockorange
Arctotis
Coreopsis and Cacti
Geranium
Hemerocallis
Lavender
Phlomis
Shrubs Palm
Brachyglottis
Ceanothus
Cistus
Convolvulus
Cotoneaster
Echium
Euphorbia
Lagerstroemia
Erica
Philadelphus
Succulents
Mesembryanthemum
Portulaca
Sedum
Tropicals
Bangalow
Dracaenas
Yuccas
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