Here are some of the things we have been doing for years (since the drought of the early 1990s):

1) If you have automatic irrigation system(s), set them to only water at night, when there will be less evaporation.

2) Reduce how much water various plants are getting a bit, and see how that works.

3) Use more grey water - sounds as if you are already doing that.

4) Mulch EVERYTHING - this is for those in dry climates. In humid climates, I am told that it causes disease, but here where it is hot and dry it works great.

5) Most important, but overlooked: check your water meter at least once a month when you have NO water running anywhere - is it moving? Then you have a leak. I have discovered that, at least in our ancient garden which has some irrigation water pipes which are over 80 years old, they can crack and lose an amazing amount of water in a short time. Three months ago we found what turned out to be a HUGE leak by looking at the water meter (which we did because of the amount of our water bill). No water was visible in the garden, because it turned out that the leak was in an "abandoned and sealed" irrigation pipe which was 3 feet under the ground! It took my DH and a plumber 4 hours of digging to find the leak. Even though finding the underground lake was easy- it was only about 12 inches down - finding the actual pipe and the place it was broken took forever. Our water company ended up refunding us $1,500!

Jackie

Also, some roses are more or less drought-tolerant. We found that most of the Austins are water hogs -- so for the ones we elect to keep and grow, they get extra water via bucket. (Warm-up water is good for this.)

Jeri

I was going to post on this topic so I am happy to see it.

When we did not get much rain, I followed some ones advice not to prune much off the Austins so they would not try and grow as much. And since they are already mulched with horse manure and wood chips, I have not fed anything in a year or so. But, I am considering pruning the Austins the end of the month/beginning of October and feeding them some fish fertilizer then and see how they do with a fall-winter-spring bloom time and then just survive the summer.

Anyone try that with the Austins?

This is a very important issue, especially since I don't want to give up my roses. : ) We're giving up our tiny bit of grass and reviewing all our plants but my roses are very therapeutic for me.

We're on a well, which means no water meter but I'll check our lines.

I've noticed that our established roses fare better then newly planted bushes- and potted roses lose way too much water.

Kippy-the-hippy-I have loads of horse manure but have never used it as a direct mulch. Our two horses provide us with a lot of manure that we compost, but I've always fully compost it first. How do you do it? How long do you let it rest before using it? If anyone ever needs some in So Cal let me know!

Thanks, Carlota

The only good reason not to mulch is when you don't want to smother small non-woody plants, and the mulch is one like wood chips that may do that to some kinds of those. Otherwise mulching should be standard practice, has (as expected) been seen to improve results markedly in comparative studies using plots of mulched and unmulched test subjects.

(Also in cool climates mulching a hot season vegetable crop at the wrong time might retard desired warming of the soil).

There is a history of organized investigations tending to show that roses have the same basic functioning and responses as other woody plants.

We are in coastal Ventura County, CA.

We have never had a problem using horse manure fresh from the horse. But you would likely want to avoid manure from pastured horses, who are eating weeds.

Just don't pile it right up touching the canes. And it's a good idea to water it in, and/or mulch over it.

I've learned that I have to water differently during an extreme drought period. My soil originally started out as glacier slurry in a mini watershed. The soil consists of dense small rocks or stones with clay and silt between them.

Since the soil has not received the deep watering during the winter months, it is dryer down at the deeper levels and seems to suck any water applied to the surface staight down to the lower levels asap. Mulching on top does not impact this natural dynamic. It does helps reduce evaporation, but does not help that natural pull of water to the lower levels.

Since my soil is between the crevices of lots of rocks, once it has dried out, the water has a path to move to the lower levels.

I found this summer that it helps if I use the sprinkler to water the top levels of the soil the night before I do my deep watering, which does moisten and swell the soil particles around the root masses of the roses and within the crevices between all of the rocks. This keeps the water I apply for deep watering around the root mass long enough for the roses to slurp of the water they need. Otherwise, it's like pouring water down an open drain. It's not a perfect solution, but it has reduced water stress quite a bit during a period of 3 1/2 months of triple digits.

It's starting to cool off and the days are shorter, so I think I can skip this step for my fall watering. I still rely on deep watering as the best way to water my roses. I just had to find a way for the water to stay put long enough to be available to the rose.

My method was dictated by my soil and climate.

Smiles,
Lyn

My MIL collects condensed water from our air con systems, and, when the systems are in full use, she can get up to 50 gallon a day. Not sure whether the water come from the humidifiers or not, but if you have such condensed water, it can add up over time. She just put a bucket under the pipes, and, when full, pour the water into a bigger bucket.

I collect from our small air conditioner but will start collecting from our large one.

These suggestions are great, keep the coming!

Carlota