Some plants are seasonal and with climate change you can't be too certain about how long the summer will last. So to be on the safe side one should consider the fact that in case the rains don't fall at the time it was expected all your hard work would have been for nothing. That's why some gardening experts advise that, when you're not too sure about being able to water your plants through an entire season, it's best to plant drought resistant crops/plants. Would you do this if it were to save you money? Has anyone here ever done that?
Yes, I would do this. In fact, I have pretty much done it. I have certain plants in my garden like succulents that are very good with dry weather. I have other tropical plants that need a lot of moisture in the air but not necessarily huge amounts of rain. But when it does rain, they do not die because of it being too much. I still try to experiment with things that I like but since the area where we live for part of the year does have very hot and dry weather, I find that many plants wilt up and die. I am always at a loss as to if it is my gardening skills or lack there of, or the neighbors cat next door who seems to come and pee on everything. It would save a person a water bill if they did not have to water every day though. That is another reason I never plant annuals but rather perennials. I used to house sit for a women who planted a lovely annual garden every year and you would have to water it twice a day; a difficult thing to do if the radio was announcing water rations. I would need to get up early morning and late evening and water for about 2 hours. I think that type of watering is excessive and expensive.
While it's easy to see why this advice is useful, I never grew drought resistant plants. Why? Well, I'm home most of the times so I can properly irrigate the garden if a drought comes (water is inexpensive anyway). To modify the culture of a whole field with drought resistant crops is not an option around here since not too many pants grow in my area. Genetically modified crops would be an option but the seeds are somewhat expensive here and not to many people approve of their usage.
No I wouldn't do this, simply because I live in the United Kingdom and it never bloody stops raining here! But if I did live in a country that had problems with drought then I would plant drought resistant crops in a heartbeat.
There are ways to protect your plants against drought conditions. For example, you can plant living mulch. You can grow oregano in between rows of tomatoes, chili peppers, green peppers, etc. Not only does it act as a living mulch, it deters some pests and you'll have plenty of fresh oregano! There are other plant combinations that work like this. During cooler weather, grow lettuce, spinach, etc. under taller plants. The taller plants shade the shorter ones (extending their growing season by a couple weeks) and the shorter plants shade the soil. Research and creativity can go a long way in gardening.
I'm in Florida ,where it's always hot. I plant tropical plants that are appropriate to the climate like palm plants and elephant ears. If there are watering restrictions, I use gray water like bathwater ,dishwater or laundry rinse water.
Yes. I live in southeast Georgia and it gets hot here in the summer and rain is usually very spotty. On top of that, if you dig down more than a foot and a half or two you will hit a solid shelf of rock. Limestone, I guess. Anyway, plants that are not drought resistant usually won't make it in the area where my garden is. This year, however, might be an exception. It's looking like it might be a rainy summer if the unusual pattern we're in right now holds. I'm not sure what that's going to do to my garden. I've seen years where we got an unusual amount of rainfall and everyone else's gardens rotted. But not mine sitting on its rock shelf.
