Topic: How did we cope on 1976, 89 and 95

[Ben Acre]

How did gardeners cope with the drought years? any tips on saving water and or keeping plants in good condition?

[Nigel B]

Mulch, mulch, and another layer of mulch. ;)

[gp.girl]

Mulch, mulch, and another layer of mulch. ;)

Yep

And water too.

[lillian]

All I remember about 76 was standpipes, subsidence and bath sharing ;D

[Jeannine]

We recycled the bath and washing up water and put a brick in the toilet tank..oh and shower sharing  of course.

Tons of mulch.

XX Jeannine

[lavenderlux]

In 1976 we had snow here on 1 June!  That year the drought lasted until around 10th Sept, about ten weeks and hose pipe bans were introduced quite early on - this year, we've had no real rainfall since early March - around nine weeks
There's apparently no problems with the 'water table level' and here on my allotment if I go down about six to eight inches its quite moist.

We're on a water meter at home so I save water anyway - I keep a 2 litre ex milk container near the kitchen sink and draw off the water into this while waiting for the hot water to come through;  washing up water, if its not too greasy, can be used to water garden plants at the roots.  If its 'containers' water little and often so they don't dry out, hanging baskets (provided they are not too big and heavy to get down) benefit from a good soak every third day in a deep container and then waiting until the drips stop before putting back, also a swell gel type of material put in when you plant up helps.  

[Morris]

In 76 I remember my mother siphoning out our bath water for the garden. And every scrap of washing up/cooking water was saved for watering thirsty plants.  We didn't have standpipes in our area so we were lucky in that respect.

I remember walking around a reservoir somewhere in Essex (Abberton??) with a friend and her parents; there was only a puddle of water in the centre and great cracks in the sides.

Also plagues of ladybirds - everywhere - all over your skin and massing in the air. Anyone else remember those?

[pumkinlover]

I remember the lady birds.
I used to go walking with my boyfriend and I hated treading on them!
He used to walk along singing  "Crunch crunch crunch go the Ladybirds" !!! ;D

[Digeroo]

I remember the clouds of greenfly before the clouds of ladybirds which took to giving you a nasty nip. 

I had a system of syphoning the water out of the bath and into the veg patch, I gave up on flowers. Pressure very low so it took ages to water the veg.

They installed the standpipes in the street one year but they were never used.   And they put more chlorine in the water so you had to put it in the fridge before you drank it to get rid of the taste of it.

Runner beans were very poor during droughts but the tomatoes, courgettes and french beans did very well indeed

And yes mulch mulch mulch.   Cardboard, newspaper plastic sheeting, weeds  I left no soil bare.   This was when I learned how much less water you use if you do mulch.

Plants also do surprisingly well on washing up water they do not seem to mind the fairies.  Every drop of water was reused.  Had a bowl in the bathroom for washing hands etc and the water then went straight outside.   

Also not a good idea to cut the lawn too short the longer the grass the longer it stays green and the more weeds the greener too so forget that weed and feed. 

!976 the lawn went completely brown not a green anything to be seen.  Grass came back but the weeds and moss died off permanently.   I remember flying back into Gatwick and more or less everything was brown except the trees and bushes.  At one stage every now and then there would be a green lawn but in the end these were too visible and people finally stopped doing it. 

[Vinlander]

Dripper heads - it's what they use in desert conditions.

At the time(s), and until recently it was technically legal to connect it direct to mains water - but it uses so little that unless your garden is huge or full of seedlings and transplants (or hundreds of lettuce) then it's largely immaterial (assuming you can mount a header tank a metre or so above the drippers).

It's worth setting one up in any year except the wettest ones - so much more efficient than wasting your  life standing around with a hose in your hand...

Cheers.

[plainleaf]

the secret to hot weather is use it  to your advantage.
i grown though 2 year drought with only 5 rain events.
and a year with 2.5 months of summer in rain.
I grown  garden that was smashed by 1.2 cm of hail and a near by tornado July 17 2009
 and though a hurricane 2003 September 19 ISABEL.


hot weather crop outside /cool crops inside the reverse of a wet year

1. secret one for a drought   create shade
2.  shade cool crops at hottest part of the day
3. lettuce can be grow in hot weather if if restrict day length to 8 hours.
4. catch the dew to to use as water source.
5. a drought is easier then excessive rain since you can at least water you plants.
6. if play your cards right you will have tomatoes that will be legendary  
7. and watermelon that will be amazing.  
8. hot peppers that will burn like Hades.

more tips later.

[Robert_Brenchley]

That's OK if you have a drought every summer and can plan ahead for it! I remember one year - it may have been 1989 - when the local reservior almost emptied, and I found masses of freshwater mussels living right at the bottom. There was never a sign of them with the water at normal levels. My main memory of 1976, apart from ladybirds and trying to climb in the heat, is the sight of miles of moorland burning.

[caroline7758]

The main thing I remember from 1976 is having great weather to revise for A-levels! In 1989 great weather for a maternity leave (daughter born in July) and 95? don't remember! But these years were all before I got into gardening!

[cacran]

Save up as much water as you can during the winter months. Get loads of containers and place them all over your plot.Put gutters and pipes on all your sheds/greenhouses. Don't go too mad watering as a lot of things can survive.
the soil can still be damp a few inches down. They manage abroad and they have regular water shortages!

[Fork]

How did gardeners cope with the drought years? any tips on saving water and or keeping plants in good condition?

I didnt have a veg plot in those days......the only green I had around me then was my Army uniform.

I remember how hot it was in 76 though.....instead of opening the windows I actually took the doors off my landrover!!

[Unwashed]

I moved to Newbury in '95.  We moved into the house in June, but I'd moved over from Essex in May and cleared the allotment in the evenings with a sickle and mower - you could have as much as you wanted then without any waiting list.  I remember it being hot and dry.  Great crop of sweet corn if I remember.

I was at university in '89 and remember planting an increadible display of window boxes and hanging baskets, and picking the greenfly off by hand when I should have been studying!

[Digeroo]

I do remember the price of potatoes and carrots soared in 1976.  Before that time they had been pence to buy.  They never went back down. 

[pigeonseed]

Jeannine said:

shower sharing  of course.

Aye aye! Someone likes to make the most of the situation  ;) ;D

All those 76 stories are fascinating - the plagues of greenfly and ladybirds!  :o I was too small to know what was going on. I remember the big event was the fete, and it was the one day it rained. I had a tantrum because I didn't want to wear a rain mac over my new party dress. (Of course I didn't think it was a tantrum, but that's what my mum tells me it was!)

I'm saving bathwater and sink water as well. I must use more mulches too.

[Vinlander]

I can take the credit for the dry weather - Murphy's law.

I put in water butts in 2006 - so we got wet summer after wet summer - until this year I got my polytunnel going (so I didn't need a good summer) - so we get a dry summer.

As Machiavelli said (almost) - if you want dry then prepare for wet...

Cheers.

[broken glass]

You should try coping with the storms we have had to endure lately, gusts of in excess of 85 MPH with driving rain to boot!      Water can be conserved using mulches and reusing bath/washing -up water as well as harvesting any rain water that does fall, if you feel the need you can filter the water through a gravel bed then through charcoal which will remove a lot of unwanted debris