Life is a Garden | South Africa |

Did you know that South Africa has an average rainfall of only about 500mm per year - compared to the world average of over 800mm per year? In our dry country, water wise gardens are the way to go and you can help conserve our precious water resources by planting up your garden with beautiful water wise plants. Life is a garden filled with climate-appropriate plants that thrive in local conditions. What does this mean? It means that you should choose plants that, in nature, thrive in your particular local climate. This includes all indigenous plants that are endemic to your region, but can also include plants from other parts of the world with a climate similar to your own regional climate.

Other than locally indigenous plants, gardeners in the subtropical coastal parts of the country can include a wide range of subtropical-climate exotic plants in their water friendly plant lists. They include alocasia from the East Indies, camellia from Japan, tibouchina from USA, gelsemium from Guatemala, abutilon from Brazil, and brunfelsia from South America.

Be water smart in your garden

Follow these water smart practices to ensure that you conserve as much water as possible in your garden:

Water at the right time

• Avoid watering on windy days, as evaporation rates are higher than on a calm day.
• Water at a cool time of the day to reduce evaporation – early morning or evening is best. Watering in the morning decreases the chance of mildew.
• When good rains fall, stop watering for a few days, except where structures, such as a roof overhang, have prevented plants from benefiting from the rain.

Water deeply but less often

Deep soakings encourage roots to utilise moisture deep in the ground and enable plants to thrive between watering. Up to 70% of light and fine droplet water applications will simply evaporate. Rather use coarse droplet sprayers that spray near to the ground. Water that lands on leaves is wasted as it generally just evaporates.

Mulch

Mulch your soil to keep it cool and moist. Mulch is one of the quickest, easiest and most cost effective ways to save water in your garden. Organic mulches eventually breakdown into the soil, so they need to be replaced periodically. They have the added benefit of improving and nourishing the soil. Branches with leaves can be used to give dappled shade relief to sensitive plants during heat waves.

Zone your garden

Have high, medium and low-to-no watering areas, and choose your plants accordingly. This will enable you to have a beautiful garden with touches of glamour in the right places.

Group annuals together

Avoid planting lines of annuals under your shrubs. Rather group them in a prominent place in their own bed were they can make a good show, because annuals are shallow rooting and shrubs are deep rooting. Annuals prefer frequent, light waterings, but this will cause your shrubs to become shallow rooting and poach water away from your annuals.

Check moisture levels

When you are in doubt about how much moisture is in the soil, open it up with a spade. The health of the plant roots and the moisture in the profile will tell you exactly how you are doing. Soil should never leave a muddy mark in your hand, it should just be moist to the touch. Overwatering plants is often more harmful than underwatering them.

Know your soil type

How much water is actually needed depends not only on the plants’ requirements, but also on soil type. What type of soil do you have?
- Sandy soil. Give short but frequent waterings. This solves the problem of water simply draining straight past the root zone.
- Loam soil. Water moderately but less often than for sandy soils.
- Clay soil. Water less often but heavily and slowly, giving water time to soak into the soil.

Water wise beauties
Choose from these water wise plants:
Alstroemeria, Swan river daisy (Brachycome multiflora), pinks (Dianthus plumarius, D. deltoides, D. gratianopolitanus), gazania*, day lilies (Hemerocallis.), ribbon bush (Hypoestes aristata)* for shady positions, red hot pokers*, osteospermum*, Salvia farinacea, agapanthus*, sea pink (Armeria maritima), erigeron daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus), gaura, blue statice (Limonium perezzii), evening primrose, Pelargonium peltatum*, sedum (Sedum spectabile), wild garlic (Tulbaghia fragrans)*, wild iris (Dietes spp.)*, Californian poppies, gypsophila.

KEY: * = indigenous plants