1. When you water, water deeply. Make sure that your water is not running off. Sounds like common sense but I see this more than anything else. Watering must be slow and long. Shallow watering causes not only shallow root development, but also near surface salt accumulation, and plants do not deal with heat as well when their roots are surfaced. Though your drought may be on a more acute schedule than ours, your annuals will also benefit from this treatment.
2. Feed, but don't over-feed. While malnutrition can make a plant drought stress more easily, so can overfeeding, particularly of nitrogen. The more photosynthetic material (usually the leaves), the more transpiration. There are anti-transpirant sprays out there that reduce water loss. The author has not used such sprays and would like feedback on their performance. Phosphorous is good. Makes roots. Nitrogen is bad. Too much foliage. Just don't starve your plant. A malnourished plant is a lot more susceptible to stress and disease.
3. Don't hack on your plant this year. Though I would say NEVER HACK on a plant, many of you cannot help it. Just lay off this year. All that new growth is very water costly, and your plant has enough stress to deal with this year. Believe it or not they DON'T LIKE BEING HACKED. Other years they will tolerate it and pruning even makes some plants look a little better to some of you (sensing that I feel a little strongly about this, ooohhh I just HATE shears). Just remember that if you weren't feeling so good cause it's hot out, you wouldn't like your arms cut off now would you???
4. Choose more native and drought tolerant plants. Native plants, that have evolved in your climate have a better genetic memory than you do. You will say, "oh this is THE WORST drought ever..." but the plants have evolved and were selected during these slightly longer oscillations of weather patterns. They can make it. Lay off the wimpy, leafy domesticated plants this year. They were not selected to be tough usually, but to look good (imagine a poodle in the Sonoran Desert...yeah that's right, Fifi would be a vulture platter in no time.
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