It’s a tough time for even the most seasoned gardener as climate change wreaks havoc with normal rainfall patterns. Here in the Southern Ocean, we have come to expect dramatic changes in our long-term weather due to two major influences: El Niño and La Niña.
Right now, the usually shorter and wetter La Niña cycle is gradually changing to the hotter, drier, and longer-lasting El Niño cycle. This usually means that we can expect drier weather, which can during this phase, eventually lead to drought conditions.
At this moment, as we emerge from a period of record low sunlight hours and major rainfall events exacerbated during a La Niña cycle ramped up by climate change, we might finally expect the incoming El Niño phase to usher in a few long, hot, dry summers. At least that was the plan before climate change spun the expected on its head, and expecting the unexpected instead became the new normal.
Gardeners like me, who already live with restricted water, have long been planning for summer droughts, yet at this moment, we’re still lamenting the excessive rainfall and exceptionally soggy ground that is a remnant of La Niña during both summer and winter. Now we fear the dry because the bog that currently is our garden will likely set like cement when it finally stops excessively raining.
Most true gardeners have long considered a hotter, drier future and have planned their gardens for that dry climate we have long been told to expect as the planet warms. Right now, with mud-covered garden shoes ever ready to slip on at the back door, that seems like foolish optimism. But I continue to dream and plan and arm myself with as much knowledge as possible to have a bright, attractive, resilient garden, even under the toughest conditions.
My lavender plants currently have wet feet, yet I’m still reading, planning, and planting for dry conditions. Living on tank water is the major driver for me to create a garden that can survive the worst summer dry. Enter Noelle Johnson’s wonderful book Dry Climate Gardening. It’s written with the arid climate gardener in mind, but it’s still full of tips for those of us who live in places with water restrictions and summers which can (fingers-crossed this time) be dry. She shows us useful skills like how to propagate, mulch, and care for plants which will survive long, hot periods. And she also offers some planting plans and inspirational ideas for container plants.
I was feeling a little low when this book arrived. The garden was a squelchy mess, but even now, after a few days without rain and a hopeful read, I’m inspired to return again to planning and planting.
Reviewer: Peta Stavelli
Allen &Unwin