[Pip Judgeford]

I know it seems completely crazy to be asking about this when you have a snow watch going ... but here in NZ we haven't had rain for 6 weeks and the summer/autumn look to be a big drought.

Rather than wait until my fruit trees and berries start to stress and die off, I'm keen to do some drought-proofing now.  Any advice and ideas on this would be fantastic!!

I have citrus and fiejoas (both I know are shallow-rooted), newly planted plum & apples trees, older (3-4 year) plums/ apples/ pears, and some 30 year plus fruit trees, plus about 25 different sorts of gooseberries, black currants/red currants.  Are any techniques better or worse for some of these?

Thanks,  Pip

[mumofstig]

I suppose if you can give them a really good watering and then cover around with black plastic it would prevent evaporation.............but you'd have to remove it in a hurry if you did actually get some rain. Deep mulch around the trees without the plastic would help if you have enough material, but it needs to be really deep if it's going to keep moisture in the soil when it is hot!
Could the trees/bushes take a bit of pruning to reduce the water load on the roots?

Sorry, that's not much help!.......

Good luck from the snowbound UK

[Kleftiwallah]

Draw up the soil around each tree to form a dam which will retain the water better.  Seen this in the desert.   Cheers,   Tony.

[Trillium]

I'd incorporate both the above ideas.  Creating little dams around each tree and a length of dams around berry bushes really is helpful. Any water caught won't move out of the immediate area. And do top the root area with a really thick mulch of straw, chipped tree bark, whatever, but not black plastic. Plastic really heats up and stresses roots in hot climates and when it does rain, the rain can't penetrate, so mulch is far better for you.

As for watering, if you're on limitations, then start saving up all start up water indoors such as running a tap until the hot water comes out - save all that cooler water in a bucket for your plants. Showers are also a good place to save start up water. It's amazing how much water you can save in a short time, water which will save your trees and fruit bushes. Water in the evening when it's cooler and the day's heat can't evaporate it as fast.

[SG6]

Good thick mulch is probably the easiest and most effective.
It will stop the sun drying out the surface, and so reduce water loss and keep the ground cooler (insulation). Better for any surface roots.

[littlelisa]

This may be a dumb question, but is this on an allotment, smallholding, farm or domestic property?
If you're anywhere near domestic dwellings, perhaps invest in a grey water recycling system - here in SA there are simple pump systems like this available:
http://www.gardenresq.com/
But you could as easily make your own.
Lisa