Water is a precious resource no matter where you live. We are lucky enough to live in an area that receives an average of 42 inches annually, and we have saved every drop we could over the years. Alas, with this year's drought, our luck ran out. Our nine large rain barrels filled but once this spring, our nearly two-hundred year old underground cistern ran dry, and the twenty-five foot well that served the house and nursery hit dust. We were left without water for slightly over four weeks this fall as we waited for a new well to be installed. 

Yet, all was not lost. From the beginning, we planned the nursery around conserving water. Here’s how:

First, we focus primarily on growing plants that fit our location: plants that like full sun and do not require huge quantities of water. Plants like Potentilla, Rudbeckia, Sedums, and all the beautiful Catchflys remain completely unruffled in hot, dry conditions. 

Second, we have always watered our nursery stock infrequently and from the bottom. This is more time consuming and labor intensive, but it conserves water and reduces the risk of fungal diseases. It also ensures that plants receive water at the roots where they need it, encouraging roots to delve down to seek water in cooler places, rather than growing up along the surface where they would quickly fry. We also group plants close together and keep the bulk of our pots below ground level. This keeps the pots cooler and cuts down significantly on water consumption. 

Because of the systems we had in place, we were able to truck in enough water to keep our four-inch pots and established seedlings happy and healthy through the drought.

Still, we needed to make some necessary changes in order to maintain our own strength and sanity. We planted nearly all of our one gallon perennials into the field as we did not have the ability to truck in enough water to care for them properly. We cross our fingers and hope without reason to see a beautiful new garden in that spot next year.

Additionally, we planted two mini forests in low lying areas on the property. These are areas that stay consistently moist and will be better able to nurse our native Sycamores, Willow Oaks, Birches, and Maples through lean years. We look forward to watching these pocket forests grow and provide homes for thousands of creatures over the years. 

A pocket forest in England. Image Credits: David Wright / Wootton Pocket Park

We also significantly curtailed our fall sowing. It was simply too risky to start seeds without a consistent supply of water. Yet, seed set was heavier this year than ever before. As we were not able to sow many of the seeds ourselves, we decided to offer them to the public. You will find open-pollinated perennial seed collected from our resilient mother plants in our upcoming 2025 catalog. We are so excited to offer these seeds! 

Happy plants are resilient, and, happily, the established plants in our gardens remained unaffected by the drought. 

A little about our resilient mother plants:
We have never irrigated our gardens. Rather, we have always planted the bulk of our gardens in fall. Rain is (or should be) plentiful at this time of year, temperatures are (or should be) cool, and stress on the plant is (or should be) at its lowest. We water well at planting time and supplement only as needed to help plants get established. 

The key to this is to site plants according to the conditions for which they are adapted. Plants in the garden do not need to be watered, fertilized, or sprayed if they are sited correctly. Happy plants are resilient, and, happily, the established plants in our gardens remained unaffected by the drought. 

 

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' in the fall garden