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Shall There be No Relief??

© Emily Levitt

I'm not talking about the restroom line in Satan's waitng room, either, although that might be a faster way to get a water break than waiting for rain in Georgia.

I can only water between 10 p.m.and 10 a.m.--- on odd days, because I have an odd house number. This puts a VERY small amount of water in the ecosystem in my little garden. I have no timed sprinkler system, so I'm out there toting the hoses around at o'dark thirty. Not fun.

What's a gardener to do?

Prioritize. Decide where you want to put the limited amount of water available under restricted use conditions, such as the ones those of us in the North Georgia currently find ourselves.

I'm putting my watering time and money in the plants.

I bought several hosta specimens which have been sitting in the shade for a month, while I planned a spot for them. Now, they are going into pots on my screened porch instead so that I can water them and keep them happy until the fall. I bought some distressed hardy ferns on sale, which will receive the same treatment. (The water police can't see what I bring out of the kitchen for such casual use).

If you have newly planted material suitable for pots, consider moving them into a shaded container. The chances that they'll survive this summer are much better, even with the transplant stress factor. Heck, at this point I'd put anything I could fit into a pot just for the better chance it would have to survive.

Cheap disposable diapers with holes cut in them make good liners in the bottom
(oops!) of your containers. Just remember how much these things swell up when saturated, and take that into consideration when you cover them with soil. (Dirt, not the soil for which they are originally intended). Be careful--or your plants can get pushed over the top!

What about established garden specimens? I walked through my garden and looked hard at everything I had in the ground. Anything that seemed 'iffy' will not make the cut when it comes time to get water, unless it's a unique specimen (ha!) or something I love (more likely).

Annuals just coming up from seed are not worth watering, unless they can set seeds for next year. I kept the forget-me-nots going, but said goodbye to little larkspur plants.

The decision concerning the possible re-sodding of our lawn has been made for us. We'll forget about it. The earth is almost literally scorched anyway.