Good Gardens with Less Water (Csiro Publishing Gardening Guides)

177 Pages·2008·17.4 MB·English

by  Kevin Handreck

GOOD GARDENS
WITH LESS WATER
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GOOD GARDENS
WITH LESS WATER
KEVIN HANDRECK
CSIRO PUBLISHING GARDENING GUIDES
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© Netherwood Horticultural Consultants Pty Ltd 2008
All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent
amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, duplicating or otherwise, without the
prior permission of the copyright owner. Contact CSIRO PUBLISHING for all permission requests.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Handreck, Kevin, 1938–
Good gardens with less water/author, Kevin Handreck.
Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO Publishing, 2008.
9780643094703 (pbk.)
CSIRO Publishing gardening guides
Includes index.
Bibliography.
Landscape gardening – Water conservation – Australia.
Drought-tolerant plants.
635.0994
Published by
CSIRO PUBLISHING
150 Oxford Street (PO Box 1139)
Collingwood VIC 3066
Australia
Telephone: [phone]
Local call: 1300 788 000 (Australia only)
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.publish.csiro.au
Front cover (clockwise, from top right):
Leucospermum gerrardii; image by iStockphoto; Stylidium elongatum; terracing on a steep slope;
Italian capsicums; image by iStockphoto; image by iStockphoto
Back cover (clockwise, from top right):
Drainage pipe; Dryandra formosa; Yates Tuscan planter; a potted agave; cherry tomatoes
Set in 10.5/14 Adobe ITC New Baskerville
Cover and text design by James Kelly
Typeset by Desktop Concepts Pty Ltd, Melbourne
Printed in Singapore by Imago
All illustrations in this book are by the author unless otherwise acknowledged.
Note: For simplicity, some trade names are used in the text of this book or can be seen on illustrations.
No endorsement of these products is intended, nor is criticism implied of similar products that are not
mentioned or illustrated.
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CONTENTS
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
1 Causes of water shortages 1
2 Plants and water 5
3 Know your soil 29
4 Organic matter and soils 39
5 Your soil is a reservoir 45
6 Water quality 55
7 Delivering water to your plants 67
8 Garden watering systems 85
9 Mulches: the facts 95
10 New gardens and new gardens from old 105
11 Dealing with too much water 113
12 Lawns 117
13 Water for plants in pots 131
14 Testing potting mixes 147
Appendix 1 Sources of extra information 150
Index 153
v
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Grevillea ‘Superb’ is a showy cross between G. banksii and G. bipinnatifida that is best suited to warm temperate
areas.
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PREFACE
During the last 10 years or so, gardening in much as the global warming to which we all
of Australia has become more difficult. Water contribute bites harder. If we want to have the
restrictions have progressively become more many benefits that gardens provide, we need to
severe as drought has intensified its grip on all of make the most of the water that is available to
our largest cities and their hinterlands. These us. That means using ALL the water that is
restrictions have progressed from mild (watering provided free to us via rain, and recycling to
allowed every second day or three times a the garden as much as possible of the water
week), through once-a-week watering via that we use in our homes.
drippers – to, in increasingly large areas, bucket
I want to show you how it is possible to have a
only, and in others, a total ban on the application
lovely garden even when water restrictions are
of municipal water direct to the garden.
severe. The knowledge contained in this book,
Gardeners might argue that these restrictions supplemented where appropriate with
are unfair, as they do not always address water information freely available on the websites
use by industry and within the home. But listed, will, I am sure, enable you to do this. I
before you get too agitated, spare a thought for will show you that with a little thought and
irrigation farmers, some of whom have had to some effort, it is possible to have a beautiful
watch their life’s work die because their water garden almost anywhere in Australia even with
allocation has been slashed. the most severe restrictions on the use of water
from municipal supplies.
Water shortages are likely to get worse in all
parts of Australia except the far northern tropics There are several sets of characters in this
book. The central character is water. It is
essential to all life. Waters from different
sources are not all created equal though; they
come with different amounts of dissolved salts
and sometimes other contaminants. One part
of this book will show you how to assess water
from different sources and how to use this
information when you use these kinds of waters
in your garden.
The characters of the second set are almost
beyond counting. They are the many thousands
of plants that you can choose from to produce
the visible part of your garden. They will not
thank you if you have put them in an
Almost every edition of every Australian newspaper
has at least one article about water. environment they do not like. Life will be
vii
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easiest for you as their carer, and for them, if source of carbon dioxide, without which there
you have chosen only plants that like your are no plants. The second provides the energy
soil and climate, and that manage with the that is essential for plants to use carbon
amount and quality of water that you can dioxide, take up water and grow.
provide to them.
There is of course another character – you, the
Plants get most of their water from the gardener. It is you who will enjoy the garden
medium in which they are growing. This that you have created out of water, plants and
growing medium will generally be a soil, soil. It is you who may well have a longer and
sometimes natural, sometimes a blend more satisfying life because of your efforts. It is
produced by a soil supplier. It could also be a you who will know that your garden is soaking
potting mix. To allow your plants to get the up some of the extra carbon dioxide that is the
most out of the water you or rain provide to major cause of the water shortages we are
them, it is desirable that you understand experiencing in Australia. You know that you are
something of the interaction between water providing oxygen for yourself and others through
and growing media. The third set of characters the plants of your garden.
of this book is therefore soils and other
Enjoy your garden.
growing media. Their ability to hold and
supply water is fundamental to having a good
KEVIN HANDRECK
garden, even with less water.
Managing Director, Netherwood Horticultural
A couple of invisible characters support the Consultants Pty Ltd, Adelaide,
others. These are air and light. The first is the and former CSIROSoil Scientist
If only we had this much water in southern Australia! Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe–Zambia border.
viii GOOD GARDENS WITH LESS WATER
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book was initiated by my publisher – Ted Queensland; Jon Lamb, Jon Lamb
Hamilton – of CSIRO Publishing. I thank him Communications; Simon Leake, Sydney
for persisting against my initial reluctance and Environmental and Soil Laboratory; Lesley
for his expert guidance. Retirement for both Lopez, Burke’s Backyard Magazine; Tim
publisher and author is no barrier to Maguire, Toro Australia; Basant Maheshwari,
accomplishment. This book could not have CRC for Irrigation Futures; Don Marriott,
been produced without the help I received Advanced Irrigation Consultants; John
from many individuals and organisations. I am McDonald, Nursery & Garden Industry
particularly indebted to the following. Queensland; Mitre 10, Malvern, South
Australia; Tom Morley, DPI Victoria; John
Rob Bickford, CSIRO; Kate Blood, Department
Neylan, AGCSA; Jann O’Connor, Irrigation
of Primary Industries, Victoria; Keith Bodman, Australia; Bob Patterson, Lanfax Laboratories;
Rio Tinto; Chris Brady, Bureau of Metereology Chris Pfeffer, DNRW, Brisbane; Tony Robinson,
(BoM), Adelaide; John Brennan, Water Sydney Water; Therese Scales, Tikalara
Corporation, Western Australia; Don Bromley, Designs; Chris Smith, Weathermatic Australia;
The Container Connection; Bruce Brooks, Diana Snape; Richard Stirzaker, CSIRO; Nathan
BoM, Adelaide; Bunnings, Mile End, South Syme, Jeffries; Greg Thomas, McCracken’s
Australia; Jolyon Burnett, CEO Irrigation Water Services; Tony Thomson, Department of
Australia; Butlers Irrigation, Adelaide; Bob Water, Land, and Biodiversity Conservation
Campbell, Sage Horticulture; Colin Campbell; (DWLBC), South Australia; Thelma and
Ian Chivers, Native Seeds Pty Ltd; Geoff Malcolm Vandepeer; Gerard White,
Connellan; Geoff Cresswell, Cresswell Payneham Plant Wholesalers; Troy Whitmarsh,
Horticultural Services; Ken Cuming, Reece Irrigation.
Moisturematic Controls; Bianca Dimont,
My special thanks go to my wife Eleanor, who
Department of Natural Resources and Water
critically reviewed the several drafts, and
(DNRW), Brisbane; Tim Durham, Eynesbury;
insisted that I write clearly and logically. No
Sid Dyer, A2Z Planter Technology; Rodger
weasel words, marketing-talk or sloppiness
Elliot; Kathy Errey, Payneham Plant
were permitted.
Wholesalers; John Gransbury, Hydroplan; Cliff
Hignett, Soil Water Solutions; Des Horton, City
West Water; David Huett, New South Wales KEVIN HANDRECK
Agriculture; Daryl Joyce, University of Adelaide, September 2007
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