One of the best mulches for shading ground is other living plants. Groundcovering plants eventually create their own food factories; organic debris (leaves, etc.) work their way down amongst the plants and decompose as well as discouraging the germination of weed seedlings. Of course, living plants also need water, but I find that where I have total, thick cover, the need for extra irrigation, even in the current drought, is minimal.
Of course, the best way to garden in extreme heat, is to garden in the shade! Keep cool...see ya' later!
More Information
- For those of you in Florida (and likely other southern locations), the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service site has a couple of very good fact sheets that should be on your reading list. Drought Tolerant Plants for North and Central Florida reviews what constitutes drought and the effects on plants as well as listing plants tolerant of drought conditions. (Note to those north of Florida: Many of these plants also prosper in colder climates and ought to be just as drought tolerant.). Coping with Drought in the Landscape has tips that are useful no matter where you garden.
- Although this is written with foliage houseplants in mind, outdoor ornamentals are subject to the same bacterial leaf diseases, caused by the same kinds of high humidity and poor air flow. To learn more about leaf problems in your plants, read. Bacterial Leaf Diseases of Foliage Plants from the University of Minnesota Extension Service.
- What is atmospheric humidity and how is it measured? This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Research Laboratories article will tell you all about it.
- Climate is a complex web that affects us all. Do you want to get a handle on what causes our climate and how our lifestyles might be changing it? THE CLIMATE SYSTEM will help you understand what affects the climate we garden in
- Zone maps for those of you not in the US:
- Has your arm become an extension of a hose? Is your brain starting to fry from vain efforts to keep plants alive? If this sounds like you, you have to read the Suite's own Lady B's (of Weeds and Wild Things) "THE EARL of CLOUD"...it's a hoot!
- For more tips on how to deal with drought, read the Suite's own Wesley Fords article Drought in the Mid-Atlantic States.
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