How to make your garden survive the dry summer: 10 tips from experts
Of course, we already suffered from an extremely dry spring , but now summer is coming and we are biting our nails: how do we keep the drought in the garden under control? Will our garden plants survive? We asked three experienced growers from the Netherlands and Belgium to share their knowledge. Together they give 10 golden tips for persistent drought.
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On their farm in the historic Veenhuizen, Lambert Sijens and his partner Jolanda grow organic, edible crops, including impressive collections of potatoes, garlic and beans. De Tuinen van Weldadigheid is a nursery and care farm, and they do a lot of education and recreation. Of course, they also have to deal with the ongoing drought, but Lambert is not panicking. He gives a few tips for drought in the garden:
Lambert: “It is best to plant out your seedlings, but also to sow the seeds yourself, in moist conditions as much as possible and not during the worst drought.”
“Only start watering plants when it is really necessary. Let the roots ‘search’ for water as much as possible. The roots then mainly go to the depth where most water is still available. If you water too quickly and too often, the plant will make superficial roots. These dry out quickly so that you have to keep watering often.”
“When you water, give a lot. Enough for a week or so.”
“We are big fans of drip hoses. This gives very regular watering, exactly where you want it, without evaporation. When using sprinklers, 40 percent of the water has already evaporated before it falls to the ground in sunny weather.”
At their small-scale nursery in Herselt, Belgium, Maarten and Lotte specialize in growing special and forgotten vegetables , herbs and soft fruit (tip: you can also find them at the Ambachtelijke Plantenmarkt this year). Unfortunately, they see that gardeners want to 'pamper' their plants too much, which makes them lazy. Then also check out their best tips for persistent drought in the garden.
Maarten: “Plants that have to search for moisture through their roots are usually stronger, grow better and are also better able to cope with other stress factors.”
