Is your garden thirsty?

Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, but if you neglected it through the winter, you might be wondering where your garden is.

Now that the weather is warming up again, it is the perfect opportunity to set lawns and garden beds up for the hot, thirsty summer months.

The first step will be to consider whether the soil in your garden has enough nutrients to sustain good growth and health, and whether it has a sufficient water holding capacity.

How much watering your garden needs will depend on how quickly water drains from it; well-mulched soil rich with compost should hold water for a week or so. On the other hand, sandy soil is likely to drain easily and need to be watered more frequently.

Mulching is an excellent way to enhance water retention. Make sure you water well before and after mulching, and keep the mulch away from stems of plants and trunks of trees. After a few weeks, break the surface tension by scratching back the mulch and apply a soil wetting agent to help the water spread more efficiently.

Soil can be helped to retain moisture by enriching it with organic materials, which will also provide plants with food – so fertilising should be high on the list of priorities. Follow the product instructions, though as a rule, it can be better to add small amounts gradually rather than one big serve which can cause rapid growth that is hard to contain during dry conditions.

Another way to reduce watering is growing plants less dependent on water, such as grevilleas, banksias or herbs like lavender or rosemary. Many garden centres display plants in groups according to their need for water, or will be happy to show you which ones are drought-resistant.

Most native species, naturally, are more tolerant of dry conditions than their imported cousins from different climates. For the lawn, grasses such as couch or buffalo are less thirsty than others, so are more likely to last longer ‘between drinks’.