Drought by PETE DUNNE and KAREN WILLIAMS Illustration by Debbie Shaw

At first, it couldn't have been finer. One day of sunshine following another. Barbecues, easy morning commutes, Little League, and lots of garden time, unencumbered by the threat of rain. But days became weeks. The sprinkler went from being a horticultural supplement to a vegetative lifeline and then, with reservoir reserves dwindling, the governor declared a drought emergency. That was the end of the waterings, and as the roses began to crisp, the newly planted (and very expensive) ornamental saplings began dropping leaves, and the lawn, not yet two years old, went from House and Garden plush to cornflake brown, you began to ask yourself whether maybe there wasn't some way to stop being a pawn to the weather. There is.

Into every life, some sun will fall.

On average, New Jersey gets forty to fifty inches of rain a year-which is easily enough moisture to sustain a great variety of native and non-native plant species in a temperate climate. The key phrase is "on average," because New Jersey isn't Camelot. There are wet seasons, like spring, and generally dry seasons, like autumn, and there are wet years, where more than fifty inches of rain may fall. And then comes a dry year, when less-sometimes considerably less-rain than average falls. And then we have a drought. Why so much fluctuation?

Local weather is affected by a number of factors, including geography and air pollution (even large cities can influence weather). But one of the most determining influences are "global weather patterns." Climatic changes in the South Pacific or Siberia can have a dramatic affect on weather on the other side of the globe, causing drought in one place and an overabundance of rain in another. It is dynamic. It is to a degree predictable. But the important thing to realize is that there is nothing to be done about it. Periodic drought is just something that is going to happen.

Actually, there is something you can do about it.

When planning the habitat around your home, adopt a landscaping scheme that will be resilient in the face of periodic drought. The key is a reliance upon native vegetation. Native species are adapted to the variation naturally present in the climate. They may not grow much or bear many flowers or fruit during drought years, but they will survive.

The Game Plan

A truly drought-resistant landscape requires planning and careful acclimation. The first step is to research the species growing in natural areas close to your home. If you live on one of New Jersey's barrier beaches, plants native to the woodlands of the NJ Highlands will not grow well without lots of supplements-water being only one of them. Conversely, rich soils will produce lank, unattractive barrier beach plants.

You can't just plop plants in the ground and expect them to be drought-resistant. Nursery-grown plants have either had their roots confined to a pot or pruned so they branch compactly. Plants in nature usually have either widely spreading root systems (to gather moisture from a large surface area) or deep roots (to tap moisture deep in the earth). Newly planted specimens have neither of these. You have to help new plantings grow these root systems by not coddling them.

This help is frequently hard for gardeners to give. You have to water infrequently and deeply, resisting the urge to sprinkle the plants daily. This is necessary because, if the soil surface is constantly moist, plant roots will not spread. Looking at your garden in the scorching midday sun of a drought, while the plants are wilting, makes the fingers itch to use the hose. Resist. Look again at dusk. If the plants are still wilted, then get the hose. Plants frequently send water to their roots during scorching midday conditions to prevent evaporative losses. They send it back into the leaves when conditions moderate.

It is especially important during drought conditions to minimize evaporative losses from the soil surface. Any moisture that gets there should remain there for use by the plants. Achieve this with mulch, which insulates the soil and helps prevent water loss. The type of mulch is not as important as its application. A four-to five-inch layer over the entire surface of garden beds is sufficient. Just make sure you don't choose a weed seed-laden material like straw.

Landscaping for occasional drought doesn't mean you have to forego all moisture-loving species. If you have sites on your property that are wetter than others, plant such plants there. If you have an outside shower (many houses at the beach do), plant your favorite moisture-loving species at its base. Even if you don't have a naturally moist spot, concentrate the plants into a single area so they will be easier to water and only one spot in the garden will have to be wet.

You already have a garden and it's not drought- resistant.

You can gradually apply the above ideas to your landscape to make it more drought-resistant, but that will take two to three years and it is dry now. You can limp along by mulching heavily as described above. If your annuals and perennials are constantly wilted, cut them back by one-half to one-third to decrease demand on the roots. They will not bloom as heavily, but they will be more likely to survive. You can save any favorite plants by building a saucer of soil around them and watering with dishwater or some other "gray water" source from the household. Spend time thinking about how you can prevent crisis during the next drought.

What about my lawn?

Lawn grasses don't grow under dry conditions. Most are of European origin-not at all adapted to our hot, dry summers. They would not be green in July without supplemental water even during a year with normal rainfall. You won't be able to have a green lawn with water-use restrictions in effect. The good news is the grasses will just go dormant and begin growth again when conditions moderate.

This is not a treatise on lawn alternatives, but since drought will return periodically, you may wish to give some thought to lawn as a landscape treatment. A lush, green lawn is unachievable without supplemental water (and fertilizer and other chemicals). Stopping the fertilizer and chemicals will result in a lawn of grass, clover, and other plants that will remain greener without watering.

Conversion of part of your lawn to a meadow populated with native, warm season bunchgrasses (and wildflowers) is another alternative. Grasses like little bluestem, switchgrass, and indian grass thrive in our hot, dry summers. They don't make good lawns, but they make great meadows. Meadows also have the advantage of being more friendly to wildilfe.

Natural events happen. Droughts, ice and cold, windstorms, etc. are all part of nature's pallette. If one tries to fight these periodic conditions, the battle will never be over. It's much more practical to work with nature.

Some key drought-tolerant species for NJ

Perennials

• Butterfly milkweed
• Crimson-eyed rose mallow
• Lance-leaved coreopsis
• New England aster
• New York ironweed

Trees and Shrubs

• American holly
• Arrowwood viburnum
• Bayberry
• Beach plum
• Dwarf hackberry
• Eastern red cedar