In last week’s “Gardening Corner,” I wrote about the ongoing drought conditions on the Middle Peninsula and how to keep our garden plants and trees hydrated during this dry period.
Another week has passed without a drop of rain (and I am just superstitious enough to hope that writing about drought will break the spell), and the garden plants are perishing from thirst. I mentioned last week that in the future, we probably can expect higher temperatures leading to more frequent and prolonged periods without sufficient rainfall, not good news for local gardeners who are used to high humidity and frequent rain throughout the growing season.
It is unlikely that we will face a drought of the magnitude seen in California and the southwestern states, but we can begin to utilize some of the principles of xeriscaping, or landscaping in dry areas, that are used in those regions. The concept of xeri-scaping was developed in Colorado in 1981, and the methods can be adapted to any area that is proje...