Extension Spotlight

High and dry gardens are needed now more than ever. What are they? A high and dry garden demonstrates which plants can survive on natural precipitation. There is a high and dry garden located in the northeast corner of the Washington County Fairgrounds in Akron. We have used it for trialing plants to see how well they fare in drought.

What defines a drought? According to Oxford dictionary, a drought is a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water . In the Golden Plains, a prolonged period could mean 10-14 days. According to Wraith, Blake and Blake researchers from Montana State University, learned once plants are in a drought of 10-14 days it takes two to three days after subsequent rewetting periods for the plants to uptake any water.

In a high and dry garden, there are plants that can weather the drought. For some of the grasses that can weather a drought, here are three in the high and dry garden in Akron: buffalo grass, slender wheatgrass and blue grama.

There is a large selection of shrubs and perennials that can be added to your current garden to help reduce water usage and keep a diverse garden throughout the season. Here is a brief list: Aspen fleabane, James’ buckwheat, Sulfur flower buckwheat, Wild Four O’clocks, Golden Columbine, Russian Sage, Chocolate Flower, Sonoran Sunset Hyssop Agastache cana ‘Sinning’, Apache Plume and Utah Serviceberry.

If you want a full list, please contact your local Extension Office. They can give you a brochure with the photos to help you decide what might work for your garden.