Employ a layered planting scheme Water during the morning or evening hours
Use either a layered planting scheme
or an aspect of intercropping, where
smaller, more delicate plants are posi-
tioned to enjoy some shade from their
larger neighbors. This is the time to
survey your garden and scope out the
best exposures for the plant varieties
you favor. Next year, you can put that
knowledge to good use. At night or early in the day, there is
less risk of moisture loss through
evaporation. This saves water and
makes it easier to evaluate the amount
of water available to your plants.
Use smart water management practices
One option is to install a timed, drip
irrigation or comparable water delivery
setup. Another is to add a water harvest-
ing system, like one or a series of rain
barrels. If you’re paying your utility
company more for water these days,
consider how nice it would be to get
some free, courtesy of Mother Nature.
If you do plan on using harvested
water, check the regulations for your
state first. You can find out more at
the National Conference of State
Legislatures website. Some states
reward water harvesters, while others
are working to penalize them. If the
water you plan to harvest is slated for
your vegetable patch, avoid watering
directly on plant leaves, or opt for a unit
that includes an ultra-violet light or
other approach to bacteria control.
Practice deep watering
If you throw a little water around
the garden when you get home from
work at night, covering plants lightly
but consistently, you encourage their
roots to stay close to the surface
where water is plentiful. That’s
fine until water becomes scarce in
July, and plants aren’t positioned to
access water reserves deeper in the
soil. Think of deep watering as an
exercise in plant training. Watering
to a depth of an inch, as we explained
earlier, trains plant roots to burrow
down where there’s a better chance
of finding adequate moisture on dry
days. Soil at a greater depth is also
cooler. Heat stress in plants isn’t just
about air temperature. Increased soil
temperature plays a role, too. Deeper
roots are more effective roots.
Employ shade cloth
Shade cloth will provide partial
protection to plants during the
brightest, hottest part of the day. Like a
row cover product, shade cloth is made
of polypropylene or polyethylene,
and can be screwed into or otherwise
secured to a simple wood or PVC
frame. Once assembled, a shade cloth
structure can also be used to extend
the fall growing season, so it’s a
garden two-for-one.
Don’t allow soil to dry out completely
Dry soil becomes porous and this
limits its ability to retain moisture.
Sow seeds earlier in the season
This will reschedule important devel-
opmental stages in your plants so they
move up on the calendar, hopefully
maturing before the higher tempera-
tures become destructive. This can be
a good strategy, although it is limited
by the earliest frost-free date for your
location. If it’s been a while since you
visited the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone
Map for your area, now is a good time.
The map was redrawn in 2012, and most
areas have shifted half a zone higher. If
your zone has changed, you may have
more latitude about planting times, and
you might even be able to expand your
plant repertoire a little.
Sow seeds directly in the garden
whenever possible
Direct seeding may be risky and not
something you’re used to, but it could
pay dividends. The theory here is that
directly sown seedlings will adapt more
readily to the actual environmental
conditions and be better prepared to
survive any heat or drought stress down
the road. If you’ve ever hardened off
indoor germinated seedlings for life
in the garden, you get the idea. In a
nutshell, tougher young plants become
tougher mature plants.
Add Mulch
Mulch will enhance the soil’s ability
to retain moisture and remain cooler
during high-heat days. Mulch also
reduces stress on plants with shallow
root systems, and eases competition
for water resources by limiting weed
growth. Choose an organic mulch like
dried leaves or straw that will help
improve your soil's ability to retain
water for next season’s challenges.
This affects dwell time — the amount
of time water from a good soaking is
available to thirsty plant roots as it
transits to the nearest aquifer.
Consider using a plant-growth regulator
Try find a plant-growth regulator
containing abscisic acid, which can
assist in helping plants control their
responses to drought stress.
Maximum Yield
55