Looking after your plants in a water wise garden

Create a water wise garden and find out how you can maintain healthy plants throughout the dry weather seasons. 

1. Get your garden plants into good drinking habits

Help your outdoor plants survive the heat by getting them used to deep soakings, rather than frequent quick drinks. In a water wise garden short, sharp watering trains the roots of the plants to move upwards, where they are more prone to drying out. Deep watering, less often, trains them to stay safe, deep in the soil.

2. Resist the urge to buy plants during dry temperatures

For a gardener, there's nothing quite like buying a new plant, putting it in the ground, nurturing watching it grow. But when it's hot and the plant is going into a water wise garden it's often better to be patient - wait a little while until the weather cools and you won't need so much water to establish the plants. 

3. Choose water wise garden plants

Plants lose moisture through their leaves. As a general rule, the larger the leaf, the more water lost. So when selecting new plants for your water wise garden, try to choose ones with small leaves. Ask your nursery if you're not sure.

4. Using plants in zones

Group your plants into 'zones' with similar water requirements in your water wise garden so as to manage your water resources more efficiently. Whether you water with a hose, a watering can or irrigation systems, you can be sure each plant is getting the correct amount of water, and no more.

5. Plants as organic matter 

Mulch acts by covering the exposed soil to reduce evaporation, but plants can play a similar role. The more of your water wise garden you cover in healthy plants, the less soil that's exposed and the less moisture that's lost. These plants also provide cooling shade.

6. Plant smart

There's no point planting something that prefers shade and minimal sun out in the open where it will bake. It will need more water to survive a dry spell, and it will drink more than other, hardier plants would. If in doubt, read the label.

If you have any more questions about maintaing a water wise garden, contact a nursery to find out more: