Drought-proofing your garden during the big dry

In a time of unprecedented bushfires, when native animals are dying from starvation and farmers are selling their breeding stock in Australia's worst-hit drought areas, keeping a garden going may seem like a frivolous extravagance.

But a green buffer around your house will not only keep you and your home cooler. The plants will also offer shelter and food to all manner of wildlife, from insects and reptiles, right up to birds, mammals and bats.

It's especially important to keep established trees alive, as these provide much-needed shade and habitat, and take so much longer to replace.

Soil moisture is below average across much of Australia and the need for rain is acute.

On the high plains behind Sydney, Bathurst normally enjoys cool winters and mild, wet summers well suited to gardening, which the town celebrates with a Spring Spectacular every October. But based on current usage and recent weather patterns, the Ben Chifley Dam is projected to have no usable water left by July 2020.

As a result, the town, and many others in the region, has been on tough water restrictions, and this spring they got tougher: only 30 minutes twice a week are allowed for watering gardens, and no lawn watering.

The 10 gardens open to the public were allowed extra water rations until after the show, but many Bathurst gardeners are looking to long-term solutions to keep their gardens alive.

Bathurst Gardeners' Club member and horticulturist Peter Varman has noticed a change in gardening habits over recent years.

"There has been a move to embrace natives and Mediterranean plants," he says.

"Gardeners are also getting smarter about how they use their water and plan their gardens."

Whether you live in a region with tough water restrictions or not, there are three broad areas you can help your garden: hardware, habits and plant choice.

Hardware

• If you haven't yet done so, put in water tanks.
• Consider replacing some lawn with native grasses, mulch, pebbles, gravel paths, or other permeable surfaces, to avoid water running off the land and into stormwater drains.
• If you have natural run-off areas such as beside driveways or on a slope, dig a mini dam or channel to slow down the water and give it time to soak in.
• Set up your soil for success; the more organic matter in your soil, the more water and nutrients it will hold, so keep adding compost and mulch, mulch, mulch.
• A drip irrigation system is the most efficient way of getting water to plants without evaporation or waste, and a deep soak once a week is more effective than more frequent, light watering. However, if you are on extreme water restrictions, a drip system won't deliver enough water for a deep soak in just half an hour.

Habits

• Put out water for birds. Look for a safe area where small birds can retreat under overhanging branches. A tray of wet sand is a safe drinking station for butterflies and bees, which can drown in open water.
• Collect water wherever you can: Redirect grey water from your washing machines or bath to your gardens. Some reverse-cycle air conditioners also produce recyclable water you can collect.
• Put a bucket in the shower to catch excess flow, and in the sink to collect the cold water you run while waiting for hot water to come through, or from washing vegetables.
• Wash your car on the nature strip or lawn if possible, to absorb the run off.
• When you mow, don't cut your lawn too short — a 2-3cm cover will protect the roots and keep the soil moist.
• Use a wetting agent to prevent soil from becoming water repellent. If you don't want to buy it, you can easily make your own.
• Use seaweed extract to stimulate plants (available in nurseries).
• If you water the garden with a hose, do so in the early morning or evening to minimise evaporation.
• Plant in autumn, so new plants have the cooler winter season to get established before summer kicks in. Top End gardeners should plant at the start of the wet.
• Prioritise your watering. There may be sections of your garden you can sacrifice, or that will survive better on less water. If possible, group all your thirsty plants in one area.
• Water pots by standing them in a large bucket of water until the bubbles stop rising; this way you know they've had a good soak and there is less run-off. It also prevents potting mix from drying out so much that it becomes hydrophobic.
• Mulch garden beds regularly. Wood chips, leaves, straw or even ripped up newspapers can be laid over the top of your soil to hold in moisture.
• A chopped-off milk container or empty plant pot can be half-buried near trees and other big bushes and shrubs to help deliver any rainfall or hand-watering closer to deep roots.

Plants for dry-tolerant gardens

• Look specifically for local native plants to replace exotics. Many are already adapted to your soil and conditions so won't need as much pampering.
• Instead of relying on water-hungry flowers, use interesting foliage and texture.
• Shrubs and perennial plants are less water-hungry than annuals. As well as local natives, you can explore Mediterranean, South African and Californian plants that are adapted to dry summers. Just remember to always check they aren't listed as weeds with your local council.
• Many plants with swollen roots store moisture to cope with dry periods. Examples include clivia, bearded iris, bulbs and the Queensland bottle tree (Brachychiton rupestris).
• Succulents can be tough, but some are weedy. There are Australian native succulents too, such as pigface (Carpobrotus rossii), moonflower (Disphyma crassifolium), different-coloured portulacas, parakeelya (calandrinias), flame trees and boabs.
• Grey-leafed plants generally endure hot dry conditions. Westringia makes a neat hedge, saltbushes are good groundcovers, everlasting daisies bring golden colour, and Thomasia species bring a cottage-garden look while being tough enough to grow under gum trees.
• Create shade with a fast-growing vine such as Hardenbergia or wonga vine — both get quite large so you will need a solid structure.
• Native cut-leaf daisies (Brachyscome multifida) come in pinks and purples and are great for edging (and butterflies).
• Many herbs thrive on dry, hot hillsides: thyme, rosemary, sage and oregano.
• Grevillea are tough habitat plants. They come in prostrate form as well as shrubs and trees, and flower in whites, yellows, oranges, pinks and reds.
• Eremophilas live in Australia's dry outback and love hot, dry conditions; their bird-attracting tubular flowers come in purples, pinks, reds, yellow, and green.
• Correas flower from autumn onwards, feeding birds and bees over winter, and forming a low shrub layer under trees. Coastal species — Correa alba and the brightly coloured cultivars bred from Correa pulchella — are particularly tough.
• Grasses offer texture, movement, structure — and habitat for wildlife. Fill garden gaps with a tall spear grass (Austrostipa), a tussocky poa or the all-Australian favourite, kangaroo grass.

• For tough fruit trees, look to native quandongs, quinces, persimmon, feijoas and pomegranates.

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