Soil preparation and mulch are essential in a water wise garden. Good mulch has many advantages, including

* Adding valuable nutrients and humus to the soil as it breaks down,
* Keeping the soil temperature uniform,
* Reducing surface evaporation by 70-80 per cent,
* Allowing for deep and infrequent watering,
* Encouraging earthworm activity, which creates channels for the passage of water and roots, and
* Eliminating stress in shallow rooted plants and suppressing weeds.

Compost and horse, sheep and cow manures are excellent for improving soil quality. Pea straw, lucerne, compost, leaf litter and chopped bark all make superb mulches.

Gardening – Watering Methods
The method used to deliver water to plants is very important in getting the most benefit out of the water used. Conventional sprinklers deliver large amounts of water to large areas and can be extremely wasteful if not positioned thoughtfully. The most effective waterwise watering systems use in-line drippers, weeping hoses and drip tubes. These products are designed for placing under mulch and work best at low pressure, where water is delivered over a period of several hours, directly to the plant’s roots. In-line drippers are also suitable for lawns.

Grouping plants with similar water requirements will assist in preventing over and under watering. Computerised watering systems allow for the delivery of a set amount of water at specified times, to various sections of the garden. Tap timers are a useful and cheap alternative. Using phosphate and petrochemical free, biodegradable laundry powders allows you to safely reuse the laundry water on the garden.

Gardening – Choosing Suitable Plants
There are 100s of water wise plants. You can select from Australian natives or exotic plants that come from areas of the world with Mediterranean climate conditions (these are areas that experience hot, dry summers with the majority of rain falling in winter). Plant labels often state how much water a plant needs. If you are not sure, look for plant characteristics such as thick leathery, hairy, wax-coated, succulent, silvery grey or fine needle-like leaves. Other sources of information for suitable water wise plant material are old neglected gardens, holiday homes and streetscapes.

Gardening – Top Summer Performers
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, Correa alba, Escallonia varieties, Hardenbergia violacea, Hibiscus (evergreen) & H. syriacus (deciduous), Lagerstroemia indica hybrids, Lomandra longifolia, Plectranthus argentatus, Santolina varieties, Westringia fruticosa & varieties.

With a bit of planning and some basic knowledge you too can have a water wise garden.

Hoeing or forking is an operation in which the surface soil around the plant, is loosened with a hoe (khurpi) or a fork and is turned inside out. The hoeing may be up to 7-15 cm (3-16in.) depth. The object of hoeing is to keep the soil porous so that light, air and water may reach the roots better, to improve moisture-retention capacity and to remove weeds. Hoeing has to be done carefully so that the surface or stem roots are not damaged. Hoeing should be done when soil is moist or dry but not wet and soggy. The best procedure for hoeing is to water the plants in the morning, hoeing them in the evening and then watering in the morning. An interval between hoeing and watering helps in the aeration of roots and absorption of water from a greater depth. Sudden exposure to heat during the hot sunshine period or to cold at night may cause damage to the roots.

Weeding :

Removal of weeds is called weeding. Weeds, besides competing with the garden plants for nourishment, are also sometimes hosts to pests and diseases, which are transferred from them to the garden plants. They should, therefore, be removed as soon as they appear.

Stopping :

means pinching of a growing shoot of a plant. Stopping also includes removal of side shoots growing from the axis of the leaf joint with the main shoot as in balsam, larkspur, or tomato, in order to let the energy of the plant be diverted fully to the flower stem. Stopping may be done more than once in a season, depending on the growth of plant and its variety. It is better not to stop more than one or two big shoots and 3-4 small shoots at a time in a plant.
Disbudding means removal of all but one or two selected buds on a stem. Plants which have large and decorative flowers need more disbudding than those with small and medium flowers. Chrysanthemum, dahlia and carnation require heavy disbudding, while roses need comparatively less of it.

Dead heading :

Removal of withered flowers from the plant is called dead heading. Flower are produced in nature for producing seeds and as soon as seeds are produced the natural function of the plant having been over, it dies or rests. Therefore, a garden plant should not be allowed to seed except for purposes of collection of seed. Removal of withered, dried flowers is thus to prevent the plant from seeding.