Wealden Times | WT209 | July 2019 | Summer supplement inside

Garden
Water retention
Get water-saving savvy
with Sue Whigham’s
tips for keeping your
pots’ occupants happy,
healthy and hydrated
this summer
in Pots
The weather is like a yo-yo. Temperatures soar, then
the following day it is overcast and drab – now, as
we speak, it is tipping it down. My rain gauge tells
me that we have had 30mm since yesterday
but yes, farmers need it for their crops and
we all need it for our gardens. Last year’s heat
and lack of rain was a disaster here when the
low oxygen levels in the pond meant that the
ghost carp, grown from tiddlers over the past
15 years or so, just didn’t make it. And that was
despite all our valiant efforts to re-oxygenate
the pond using a hose. I was glad to hear
that my bed and breakfast guest was a keen
fisherman and so was seen in a tangle of willows
at the side of the pond stretched out on his
stomach retrieving a very large and beautiful
fish. It was all very traumatic, like losing an
old friend, but thank goodness he was here to help.
Whether we do have a dry summer again or not, it is worth
thinking about water retention, bearing in mind that water is
“Try to avoid
watering in
the evening as
moisture can
get trapped in
the pot as the
temperature drops
leading to mildew
and fungus”
such a valuable resource and, if you have a pot garden rather
than flower beds – maybe due to lack of space or just by
preference – it is worth thinking of ways to retain moisture
in them so that you don’t have to spend hours
watering, especially if you are on a meter.
I was reading about ollas, clay pots used
for thousands of years to irrigate plants.
These are pots with a round base and a
bottleneck opening that you bury into your
pots or borders having filled them with
water. As they are porous, water seeps into
the adjoining plants’ roots via a suction effect
and the roots grow round the olla and take
water in when its needed. But maybe a few
ideas work just as well but less interestingly.
One major thing to think of is mulch and
a healthy compost heap will give you all
the humus-rich compost you would need for pots. It’s an
idea to use large pots if possible as whilst they need filling
with a good deal of compost, they will not dry out in
119 wealdentimes.co.uk