What a dry summer it’s turning out to be. At my place we’ve had a measly 47mm of rain since the start of December last year, which is less than a quarter of the long term average rainfall for this time of the year. The grass has browned off, the soil is bone dry, and thanks to high temperatures and strong winds, the garden looks as worn as a hundred year old Persian rug.
I’m not a meteorologist, but from my lay point of view, it seems as though our weather patterns have changed. Once upon a time, the general pattern of wet summers and dry winters could be relied upon, but these days the rainfall graph looks like a rollercoaster. Above average falls one month, below average the next. To go from 228mm in November 2008 to 27mm the following month is a precipitous drop, and lots of plants in my garden are struggling to cope.
Boom and bust is the new order of the day. While anyone who works with nature understands that the weather is fickle, and that this boom and bust cycle has always been a long term characteristic of the Australian climate, what appears to be happening is that the cycle is getting more intense. The booms seem shorter, and more concentrated, the busts longer and more severe. What worries me the most is that this apparent change is completely in line with climate change predictions.
What’s a gardener to do? Well, one thing I’m not about to do is hoist up the white flag and pack it all in. No, I’m determined to observe and adapt. As I said earlier, I’m a total amateur when it comes to the weather, but I’ve learnt from old time farmers that good records are the basis for good decision making. At a bare minimum, I think it’s vital that gardeners keep accurate rainfall records. Temperature record keeping should also be high on the agenda, since it helps tremendously to know when you can expect events like the first and last frost, and how many frosts per year occur in your part of the world.
Then there’s adaptation. The business as usual approach to life is now more redundant than a room full of investment bankers. The age of adaptation has begun. In the garden there are plenty of things you can do to cope with the new realities of boom and bust. One is to increase the amount of water you can harvest and store during a rainfall event. A larger rainwater storage capacity will help, but if the budget’s tight, you can also scavenge all manner of water holding containers, be they old wine barrels, bulk food barrels, wheelie bins, and buckets. Even a wheelbarrow located under a downpipe will collect a helpful amount of water. The more water you can store in a boom, the longer it will be available during a bust.
Another significant adaptation, which is actually good gardening practice anyway, is to improve the moisture holding capacity of the soil. I’ve had terrific results with soil wetters. There are lots of products on the market in both liquid and granular forms, but in essence, all are surfactants that help overcome a waxy coating on soil particles, and therefore aid in moisture penetration and retention. Being keen on organics, I prefer plant-based soil wetters, and like to incorporate some seaweed extract in the brew to help enhance the health of my plants.
The other way moisture holding capacity can be increased is by adding loads of humus – decayed organic matter – to the soil, which will soak up water like a sponge and gradually release it according to plant needs. The best humus of all is made from compost. Home made is the best in my experience, but for those who are on a smallish block, it can be hard to generate enough to make a real difference to the soil. In this case, a truckload of decent compost from a reputable landscape supplier is a worthy investment. In addition to compost, the next best thing is manure, which is either cheap or free. Either way, it pays to be generous when applying organic matter, and like Peter Cundall once did on Gardening Australia, you should pour the stuff onto the garden by the bucket load.
One final point: I hope I haven’t given you the impression that adaptation to a boom and bust climate means accepting some sort of consolation prize. Good gardens are possible in all but the most extreme climate. Here on the Downs, there’s no reason why our gardens shouldn’t continue to thrive, but we have to get on the front foot. Forget about embracing change. It’s time, as Ghandi suggested, to be the change.
First published in the Toowoomba Chronicle 17th January 2009
