The Mediterranean Gardener

Broadly speaking, our blog is about gardeners living in warm temperate regions that experience four months of hot, almost totally dry summer weather and wet but sunny winters, with the lowest annual temperatures of between 2ºC/35ºF and 6ºC/21ºF. As well as in the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea, such conditions are to be found in parts of central and southern California, in South Africa's western Cape Province, in parts of southern, western and eastern Australia and along some of the coast of Chile.

In a Mediterranean climate, it is drought rather than cold that presents a hazard to plant life. Fortunately it is possible, to a large extent, to alleviate dry conditions by watering - at least, this is possible for those who have a good water supply!

By a good supply we mean one that will not disappear just when it is needed most - at the peak of summer - and also one that is relatively free of dissolved salts, which, even in weak solution, are harmful to plants. In many coastal areas the increased use of water because of tourism has drawn sea water into the aquifers and has increased salinity to levels which few plants accept.

Water that has passed through those types of water softener that are regenerated from common salt is also sodium-rich and destructive to healthy plant grow. If you have no alternative but to use salty water, you should choose plants that are specially adapted to saline coastal conditions (we will talk about those plants later) and give preference to those that are drought resistant too. If, on the other hand, you are determined to have a garden of verdant lawns, green foliage and bright flowers, you will have to provide a source of pure water and an efficient system of applying it regularly and economically.