The warmer weather brings much to anticipate, particularly the joy of spending more time in the garden and preparing fresh meals with home-grown vegetables. From juicy tomatoes to vibrant peppers and crisp cucumbers, it’s a season to truly savour your garden and the produce from seeds sown during the chillier months. However, maintaining plants in the heat can be quite labour-intensive, especially if you have an expansive garden with plants that need frequent watering.
It may appear straightforward, but there are many factors to consider when watering your plants to ensure they remain hydrated. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) advises watering plants either early in the day before sunrise, allowing plants to effectively utilise their water supply, or in the evening.
Even with a well-planned watering schedule, the UK often imposes hosepipe bans during the hotter months to prevent water wastage in homes during heatwaves.
During these periods, gardens and plants risk drying out, but one gardener has revealed a technique that doesn’t necessitate daily watering. This means that even if you’re short on time or facing a hosepipe ban, your plants can stay hydrated, reports the Express.
In a TikTok video, Syd Roope introduced her followers to an age-old trick for watering plants: ollas. These clay pots buried in the garden keep plants hydrated without the daily chore.
While the roots of this heritage gardening practice are debated, ‘olla’ comes from the Spanish term for ‘clay pot’, suggesting Spanish origins and at some point adopted by Native American tribes.
Syd takes viewers through the process, explaining that the porous terracotta ollas, once planted underground, “leach out water when the soil gets really dry” – sparing you the task of daily watering.
Superb for veggies like tomatoes or courgettes and lasting perennials, ollas are submerged and filled with water through a tiny hole on top.
This ancient method minimises watering hassle as the olla gradually seeps moisture into the soil, directly hydrating the plant roots whilst potentially cutting down watering needs by up to 70%.